Collection Online
Wall hanging
Medium
silk (ikat), cotton
Measurements
182.8 × 141.5 cm
Place/s of Execution
Uzbekistan
Accession Number
2012.353
Department
Asian Art
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Vivien Knowles, 2012
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Gordon Darling Foundation
Gallery location
Not on display
Physical description
This silk hanging features a pattern of repeated yellow and white roundels enclosing multi-coloured dots, perhaps in representation of a cut pomegranate. The vibrant design was created through the resist-dyeing technique known as ikat. Before weaving, patterns are formed on the warp threads by binding areas to resist coloured dyes, and repeating the process with successive colours. While simple designs are relatively easy to achieve, more intricate imagery requires great mastery of the technique. In Central Asia, a local term for ikat is abr, meaning cloud, a reference to the soft slightly blurred edges surrounding the patterns. Lined with cotton.