Cleveland Museum of Art

Part of a Skirt (Ghaghara)

Date

early 1800s

Medium

silk satin embroidered with silk in "ari" chain stitch

Culture

Western India, Gujarat, possibly Kutch

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Brightly colored floral vine patterns were embroidered using fine chain stitches. Since there are continuous, unbroken lines of stitches on the back side of the cloth, they were created using a hooked awl, which is a much faster process than embroidering with a straight needle. This type of embroidery is known as ari work, which flourished in Gujarat during the 19th century. The renowned art historian A. K. Coomaraswamy (1877–1947) gave another section of this skirt to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK (IM.108-1912).

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