W O R C E S T E R A R T M U S E U M

TextileHeirlooms

from theIndus Valley

Throughout the ethnographically complexIndus River Valley region, domestic textiles areessential for both auspicious occasions and dailylife.Women may live in the snowy mountains,in parched deserts, amid green pastures, or inhigh hill country; in each environment they infuseheart and creative spirit into weaving and embroi-dering textiles. Ranging from tunics and shawls tobags and covers, the textiles are created for festi-vals, important family events, such as weddingsand births, to show suitability as a prospectivewife, and for dowries.

Collaborative needlework projects strengthenfamily bonds and friendships. Likewise thelanguage of stitches, lively patterns and talismanicmotifs imbue ordinary existence with vibrancy anda sense of protection. Migratory groups often meetand influence each other in this semi-arid, nomadicpart of the world. Nevertheless characteristiccombinations of vivid colors, motifs, and materialshave traditionally conveyed the origin, tribal affilia-tion, religion, status, and identity of the womenwho created the works.

The exhibition reflects the astonishing varietyof textiles from the provinces of Pakistan: Sindh,Balochistan, the Northwest Frontier Province,Punjab, and the Northern Areas; many worksdate from before Pakistan’s partition from Indiain 1947. Included are also works from westernIndia and the provinces of Ghazni and Nuristanin eastern Afghanistan.

All textiles featured in this brochure are from the collec-tion of Ambassador & Mrs. Thomas W. Simons, Jr.

Cover: Cushion Cover with Star and Ram’s Horn Design (detail), Hazara Region, North-West Frontier Province (Pakistan),first half of 20th century, cotton embroidered with silk, mirror and cord edging

Textile Heirlooms from the Indus ValleySeptember 14, 2007 – February 3, 2008

Small Bags, Balochistan Province (Pakistan), first half of 20th century;cotton embroidered with silk, tassels, braided cord, plastic beads, cowrieshells, metal-wrapped thread

Small Bag,Ghazni Province (Afghanistan), first half of 20th century;cotton embroidered with silk, metal-wrapped thread, metal discs,mirrors, beads, cowrie shells, cloves, beaded tassels

Small Bag, Sindh Province (Pakistan), first half of 20th century;cotton piecework and cotton lining quilted with silk, pompoms,cotton string

The Indus Valley Region

The Indus River, at 1,800 miles in length, is

one of the world’s longest and mightiest rivers.

Civilization flourished along its banks as early as

2600 B.C.; the Mohenjodaro and Harappa sites

testify to great, and still mysterious, urban cultures

from that early time. To this day the Indus is the

lifeline of millions of people as it cascades from icy

peaks in Tibet down the Himalayan foothills, fed

by glacial streams and major tributaries that water

the semi-arid plains of Pakistan, before spreading

into a delta at the Arabian Sea.

The peoples who live along the Indus River, inPakistan and its Northern Areas and in neighboringAfghanistan and western India, enrich the worldwith an astounding variety of cultures, religions,languages and artistic expressions. Nomadic andsemi-nomadic tribes—Kohistani,Waziristani,Nuristani, Pashtun and Baloch—live in theregion’s upper reaches, in the isolated mountainvalleys of northern and western Pakistan and east-ern Afghanistan; they practice pastoral herdingand/or agriculture. In the well-watered, fertileplains of the more densely populated Punjab andSindh Provinces, groups belonging to Hindu orMuslim castes specialize in cattle and camelbreeding, carpentry, farming, commerce or otheroccupations, while nomads roam the drier areas.

Embroidery Techniques and Stitches

There is no dominant, unifying stylistic expression amongthe numerous cultures of the Indus Valley. However, theyall share a profound appreciation of colorful, intricatelyworked textiles and many patterns are geometric andusually non-figurative. The designs display inventive,distinctive uses of universal stitches and fascinating specialtechniques and styles, including the ones illustrated below.

Soof (lit. “triangle”, see right) is a technique counted outfrom the back of the fabric. Geometrical, whimsical varia-tions of traditional motifs, including stylized flowers andfigures, convey wishes of fertility and prosperity for thenewlyweds. The designs are created with surface-satinstitches of varying lengths that allow most of the valuablesilk to be visible on the front.

Hurmitch (see top of detail below) is a detached inter-laced herringbone technique: a double-herringbone stitchfoundation, interwoven by two layers of interlaced darningstitches.Worked either diagonally, or horizontally andvertically, four interlaced herringbone units can respec-tively be linked at adjacent corners or edges in order toform larger diamond or square shapes.

Kharek (lit.“fruit of the date palm”, see lower left of detailbelow) first requires creating a design outlined in black withthe double-running stitch, and then filling this design withbars of even, short and closely worked satin stitches.

Dowry Cloth (detail), Sindh Province (Pakistan), firsthalf of 20th century; cotton embroidered with silk,beads, sequins, tassels, mirrors

Rifle Cover (detail), embroidered by women of the cattle-breeding Mahar groups, northern Sindh Province (Pakistan), first half of 20th century;cotton embroidered with silk, cotton and metal-wrapped threads, mirrors

Phulkari (lit.“flower work”) is a technique ofsurface darning and satin stitching that requirescounting the threads on the reverse side of thefabric. By taking up a single thread with the needle,only the smallest amount of silk shows on thereverse, while a “float” of shimmering handspun silkfloss (pat) is left on the front. Nuances are createdby changing the direction of the stitches.

Hindu and Muslim communities in PunjabProvince and the Hazara Region have tradition-ally created phulkari shawls for important familyoccasions, especially weddings. Those fromHazara are traditionally made of joined panelsof coarse, hand-woven white cotton (kaddar)and embellished with geometric patterns in darkpinkish-red silk floss.

Mirrors (shisha) are extensively used in the embroi-dery of Sindh and Balochistan.The silvered glassis attached to the fabric by means of stitched so-called“Indian Mirror” frameworks and encirclingborders. By reflecting sunlight, mirrors protect thewearer from negative energies and evil glances.Roman stitch designs fill the areas between bandsof mirror work. Each Roman stitch is sewn with along stitch from left to right and a short crossingstitch at the center of the long stitch to tie it down.

Chain stitch designs often embellish the textilesmade by Pashtun women of the Katawaz Basin ofthe Paktika and Ghazni Provinces. The ones fromGhazni Province tend to include stylized, radiatingfloral and sun shapes embroidered with orange-colored thread.

phulkari front

phulkari reverse

Woman’s Phulkari Shawl (details of front and reverse), HazaraRegion, North-West Frontier Province (Pakistan), first half of 20thcentury; hand-woven cotton embroidered with silk

Woman’s Dress Pocket (detail), Balochistan Province (Pakistan), firsthalf of 20th century; cotton with silk, metal-wrapped thread, mirrors

Cover (detail), Ghazni Province (Afghanistan), mid-20th century,silk lined with cotton and embroidered with silk

The Collectors

THOMASW. SIMONS, JR. completed a 35-yearU.S. Foreign Service career by serving as AmericanAmbassador to Pakistan (1996-98). AmbassadorSimons and his wife Peggy had developed aninterest in textiles during previous tours of dutyin Poland, a country known for its pioneers incontemporary fiber arts.While living in Pakistan,they became fascinated by the beauty of traditionaltextiles made by women in the Indus River Valleyand its adjacent areas. The Simons recall that “itwas a joy to sit with dealers and other collectorsand to learn about colorful hand-woven or intri-cately embroidered pieces from places such as thePamir foothills of the north, the fertile plains ofPunjab, the deserts of Sindh and Rajasthan, andthe high plateaux of Balochistan, with Afghanistanto its west.”

Traveling around the country, the Simons came toshare a deep appreciation for Pakistan’s impressivecultural and artistic diversity. However they werealso stunned and saddened by the realization thatthe once thriving and widespread embroiderytradition is now becoming a vanishing art. Inalternating peaceful and turbulent times, theIndus Valley region continues to urbanize and

modernize, and the lifestyles of its peoples arechanging. Not so long ago, creatively—andlaboriously—embellished textiles were consideredessential for dowries, for important family events,and for daily household use. Today, as their impor-tance is disappearing even among nomadic tribes,handcrafted textiles are replaced by factory-made,machine-stitched garments, as well as by syntheticfabrics and containers.

The Simons first displayed their textiles on thewalls of the American Embassy Residence inIslamabad. Since leaving Pakistan, they have lenttextiles to museum exhibitions in Madison,WI,Portland, OR, and Pasadena, CA. By exhibitingsome of their finest, regionally most characteristicworks at theWorcester Art Museum, the Simonsjoin a handful of other scholars and collectorsdedicated to preserving and introducing thestunning textile heritage of anonymous women inPakistan, eastern Afghanistan and western India.Research still needs to be done, but pioneeringtextile historians, museum curators and indepen-dent scholars (including Nasreen Askari, RosemaryCrill, Noorjehan Bilgrami, Mary Ann Fitzgerald,Sheila Paine, Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, PatriciaOrmsby Stoddard and Judy Frater) are laying thegroundwork and pointing the way. The Simonshope that this exhibit will also help honor andexplore the textile arts of the Indus Valley.

Ambassador Simons has taught modern andcontemporary Islamic history at Stanford;served as Director of the Program on Eurasia inTransition at Harvard University’s Davis Centerfor Russian and Eurasian Studies; and lectured onPost-Communist Islam in Harvard’s GovernmentDepartment. His most recent book, Islam in aGlobalizing World, was published by StanfordUniversity Press in 2003. Both Ambassador andMrs. Simons remain active in learning andpromoting the textiles of the Indus Valley, anabundantly rich, but little known part of theworld’s cultural heritage.

Select Costumes of the Region

Sindhi LohanaWoman’s Wedding TunicThe wedding tunics made by the women ofLohana Hindu enclaves in Sindh are encrustedwith geometric and floral designs, mostly in chainand double-button-hole stitches. The knee-lengthtunics are worn with trousers and a head covering.During the wedding ceremony the bride wears theneck-slit to the back, after the ceremony, to thefront. The upper corners of the neck-slit are filledwith sand from the bride’s native village or asacred site.

Nuristani Man’s TunicNuristani tunics, embellished with pre-Islamicpatterns, are composed of two layers of hand-woven cream-colored cotton: the finer layer on theinside is joined with the coarser one on the outsideby means of counted-thread embroidery—mostlydouble-back, square chain and running stitches—executed from the front with black thread.

Woman’s Wedding Tunic (side with neck-slit and detail of otherside), Sindh Province (Pakistan), first half of 20th century, satin-weave silk lined with cotton, embroidered with silk and cotton andmetal-wrapped thread

Man’s Tunic (front and detail), Nuristan Province (Afghanistan),mid-20th century, hand-woven cotton embroidered with cotton

WORCESTER ART MUSEUM Fifty-five Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609WED.– SUN. 11–5, 3RD THU. 11–8, SAT. 10–5 508 .799 .4406 WWW.WORCESTERART.ORG

Balochi Woman’s DressMuslim Balochi women fromBalochistan Province (Pakistan)and Afghanistan wear dresses (pashk)decorated with a front yoke, sleevecuffs, and a deep front pocket (pudo)ending in an inverted V-shape at thewaist. The geometric, talismanicdesigns are embroidered with minutestitches (e.g., Roman, chain, squarechain, two-needle chain, surface satin,herringbone, knot, detached interlac-ing, couching, cross, running, button-hole and Indian mirror).

AcknowledgementsExhibition curated by Louise E.Virgin, Curator ofAsian Art, with the assistance of Susannah Baker.Warmthanks to the collectors, Ambassador andMrs. Simons,and to Susan Andrews (embroidery expert) for theirknowledgeable guidance. Appreciation to the dedicatedstaff of theWorcester Art Museum who helped realizethe exhibition and brochure, including Patrick Brown,John Hyden, Trevor Toney, Paula Artal-Isbrand,Debby Aframe, Kathleen Corcoran, Suzanne Bonner,Kim Noonan, Kate Egnacznak, Allison Berkeley,NoraWeeks, Anne Porcella, Stephen Briggs, DeborahDiemente, Karen Mansfield, Joseph Leduc, JanetRosetti, and Katrina Stacy.

The exhibition has been generously supported by a fund establishedby Esther Taft Quinn at The Boston Foundation, Unum, TheClayton F. & Ruth L. Hawkridge Foundation, and The Honorableand Mrs. Barry D. Hoffman.

Woman’s Dress (front and detail), Balochistan Province(Pakistan), first half of 20th century; silk and cotton cloth,embroidered with silk, metal-wrapped thread, mirrors