Suzani

Suzani literally means “needle one”, that is embroidered by needle in distinction of embroideries made by special crochet hook. In literature this term is conventionally used to refer to large decorative embroideries, which production was once widespread in agricultural oases of Central Asia among Tadjiks and settled Uzbeks. At the same time in traditional culture the term suzani itself was applied to embroidered covers for newlyweds’ bed, which formed the dowry of bride together with other embroidered items. Its fabrication started when a girl was of very young age so that several sets consisting of bedcover, sheet, pillow covers, curtain for wall niches and other objects would be ready by the time of her wedding. Various embroidered articles played important role in wedding rituals. Under embroidered veil bride was led to the bridegroom house. Bright embroideries decorated the newly-weds’ room and covered their bed, embroidered hand kerchiefs and purses were presented to guests. Headdresses, belts, festive women garments were embellished with embroidery combined with silken texture of fabric decorative texture. Embroidered horse clothes and other articles of harness formed part of horse gear.

Handmade and factory produced cotton, half-silk and silk fabrics were used for embroidery. Embroidery was made with silk threads applying various kinds of stitches: satin stitch, chain-stitch and cross-stitch.

The largest centers of their production were Bukhara, Samarkand, Shahrisabz, Quarshi, Nurata, Urgut, Ura-Tyube, Tashkent and the cities of the Fergana valley. In spite of notable unity of ornamental patterns, in which stylized floral motives prevailed, distinctive and original embroidery styles and designs reflecting the specifics of ethno-cultural development of every region emerged in these places. At the same time suzani distinguished from other embroideries the brilliance of their color gamma, harmonious combination of contrasting colors and creatively different compositional designs. As no other kind of arts and crafts embroidery expressed esthetic notions of local population. The German scholar and traveler R. Karutz who visited many countries of the world and witnessed a lot of exotic and picturesque phenomena in different cultures, however, described with particular enthusiasm his impressions of voyage to Central Asia in 1903: “In comparison with Turkestan cities, in particular with Bukhara no other people’s life displays greater richness of colors, no other ethnographic panorama of the world shows more sophisticated and stronger sense of color scheme”.