COSTUMES
India: Gujarat, Rajkot, Rajkot
Blouse (choli -- woman's)
1956 - 1957
Twill weave; Satin weave; Supplementary weft patterning; Applique; Braided
Silk; Cotton; Kinkhab; Metallic thread
18 1/2 x 33 1/2 in. (47 x 85 cm) overall
Elizabeth Bayley Willis Collection, gift of Virginia and Prentice Bloedel
TC 58.1-354

The Bhardwads, along with the Rabaris are large groups of Hindu pastoralists who inhabit Gujarat’s Kutch and Saurashtra. They traditionally are herders who supplement their income with agriculture. The costume of the Bhardwad woman consists of a wool skirt, wool bandhana and embroidered odhani, and a backless blouse. The type of skirt worn indicates a woman’s marital status; only married women wear a wool skirt wrapped around the body. These skirts are two lengths of cloth joined along the selvedge, and decorated with small dot patterns created by wrapping individual warp threads with colored cotton yarns. Temples, plants, birds, and most recently airplanes, are placed linearly along the cloth. Their wool odhanis are produced on narrow looms in rural Gujarat and resemble the man’s kambla (shoulder cloth) in construction and supplementary weft patterning. After the pieces are taken from the loom, they are joined in the center and further decorated by the bandhana technique with bold, simple designs. The odhanis, like the skirts, are dyed a dark color associated with the clothing of the Bhardwad and Rabari women. -- Label copy for Courtyard, Bazaar, Temple: Traditions of Textile Expression in India, Bellevue Art Museum, June 12 to July 25, 1982.