COSTUMES
India: Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Lucknow
Moslem
Sari (woman's)
1957
Plain weave; Embroidered
Cotton; Deflected element embroidery; Chikan embroidery
97 x 46 7/8 in. (246.4 x 119.1 cm)
Elizabeth Bayley Willis Collection, gift of Virginia and Prentice Bloedel
TC 58.1-334

Chikankari is embroidery done in white thread on fine white cotton fabric. The patterning may be embroidered using a variety of stitches, generally flat. If the sixtieths are worked on the underneath surface of the semi-transparent fabric, as in this sari, the stitches create an opaque shadow effect on the face. The Chikankari style of embroidery is especially associated with the city of Lucknow, India, where it was developed in the mid-nineteenth century under the direction of craftsmen from Dacca. The patterns are stamped onto locally woven muslin, called tanzeb, with small print blocks, and distributed to women and children to embroider as a homecraft. -- Label copy for Elegance of Embroidery, Henry Art Gallery Textile Collection, October 11 to October 28, 1988.