UZBEKISTAN, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

Although visually distinctive from the well-known Uzbek embroideries made for dowries (initially for the wedding bed and later used as decorative hangings, see lots 151 and 152 of the present sale), suzanis of this type were often created as horse covers or coats. In Central Asia, saddle covers were usually plain velvets (HALI, Issue 160, p.131), making one like this a particularly attractive decorative addition to the horse - an animal so essential for daily life in nomadic and urban Uzbekistan. These were were used in both official and private ceremonies or exchanged as prestigious gifts.

A Shahrisabz suzani with identical palette was sold at Rippon Boswell, 27 June 2020, lot 258. It is woven in the same fine "iroki" stitch technique as ours and was probably used as a wall hanging in the palace of the ruling Emir at the time. A similarly different suzani saddle cloth from Bukhara was recently acquired by the Textile Museum, Washington D.C. (2023.18.15). This type of Shahrisabz suzani rarely appears on auction, but saddle covers from Lakai have sold at Rippon Boswell, 26 March 2011, lot 98, and Sotheby's London, 1 October 2002, lot 286.