Cleveland Museum of Art

Woman’s Robe (munisak)

Date

1850–75

Medium

Silk: velvet ikat

Culture

Uzbekistan, Bukhara

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Dazzling ikat velvet robes, the most sumptuous, expensive, and prestigious type of ikat, were worn throughout Central Asia by men and women. This resplendent robe with a V-shaped neckline, fitted torso, and slightly flaring skirt features stylized blossoming plants, pomegranates, and auspicious curved ram’s horns, all with irregular contours of the resist-dye ikat technique. Such female robes were culturally significant in Central Asia. Made for wedding dowries with fabric from the groom’s family, women wore munisaks for rites of passage throughout their lives, as a bride, at family festivals, and funerals.

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