Traditional Textiles of Central Asia [antikvár]

PrefaceThe remote region at the heart of Asia had long held a fascination for me. Tales of great camel caravans crossing desert and high mountain pass to carry silk from China of the Han Dynasty to the markets of imperial Rome; the romance of legendary mounted nomads who lived in felt-covered tents and who knew no boundaries or barriers; the history, sometimes terrible and sometimes glittering, evidence of which lies abandoned along the ancient trade routes, were all part of the dream to explore. But the reality was then a land closed to travellers. For four hundred years prior to 1991 when the political situation changed, a traveller's security which had once been provided by the Mongol rulers was no longer guaranteed; after their empire had fragmented in the fifteenth century the area was hostile to outsiders, and only the most intrepid ventured into Central Asia. During the same period internal discord caused many inhabitants to leave their homes and traditional pasturelands. Many fled the heartlands, taking with them the family's wealth in textiles, to join their tribal kinsfolk south of the River Oxus in Afghanistan. It was to Afghanistan, on the fringe of Central Asia, but inhabited by people integrated in the same history, that I travelled in the 1960s, and first encountered the extraordinary textiles of Central Asia.The subtle shades of red and indigo of intricately woven rugs and bags, so intrinsic to the nomadic way of life; the brilliant colours of ikat-dyed silk robes, brought from the oasis towns; the floral designs of densely embroidered hangings and covers and the vivid patterns of nomad bodices and skirt-hem lengths were all displayed among the goods for sale in the streets and bazaars. I travelled widely, using local transport, along the bumpy tracks which are the ancient 'ways' of nomadic tribes. Occasionally a family would be on the move, the animals laden with woven bags and the women magnificent in their dresses. In nomad encampments the activity of producing the essential fabrics and furnishings was apparent at once in the warp pegged out on the ground, and piles of shorn fleece waiting to be made into felt or spun.More recently, as the frontiers opened to the Central Asian region, it was possible to explore the oasis towns and mountain villages. Here the home-industry of sericulture Is announced by small domed buildings used to rear silkworms and ancient plantations of mulberry trees. When I was welcomed into a house I found much of the living space taken up by a vertical loom where women weave beautiful traditional rugs and other necessities for the family and for sale.Although the pace of social change has accelerated in the past decades, warps are still being pegged out on the desert ground, and women continue to gain status with their exquisite embroidery. I have no doubt that when I next return 1 shall again find a man from Hazarajat standing on a street corner selling from his barrow piled high with gloves, socks, pullovers and hats knitted by the people of his village.The chapters which follow describe the wide range of the region's textile, from the historical fabrics to the unique and exquisite objects - made with limited means but with the knowledge of an ancient living tradition - to the products of more modern design and technology. Starting with the decorative motifs and the preparation of thematerials, through dyeing, feltmaking, different weaving techniques and dress, to (Top) Border of a wedding embroidery and block-printing. Traditional Textiles of Central Asia is an essential guide canopy, bolim posb. with floral for the traveller, student, designer and collector.discs and local legume-flowers.