24 March 2022

Very often Bukhara is called "golden", despite the fact that there are no deposits of this precious metal, and the locals are more rich in other values. So why is the "Pearl of the East" compared to gold? It has to do with the Bukhara gold embroidery art.

Gold embroidery is the national skill which made Bukhara famous for centuries all over the world. The city is so proud of its masters and their creations, some of which are kept in museums and exhibition halls in different countries.

Golden embroidery centers existed in Samarkand and Herat, but only in Bukhara the craft was elevated to the rank of the court art, which has gained tremendous scope. Since the sixteenth century, when Bukhara was the capital of the Bukhara Khanate, gold embroidery was under the patronage of the great rulers. The largest gold embroidery workshop was located in the residence of the emir, on the territory of the ancient citadel of Ark.

Gold embroidery art of Bukhara

Only men were engaged in gold embroidery art. Women were forbidden to do it. Some legends say that gold threads became dull and lost their luxury at the sight of the beauty of Bukhara women. So as not to transfer precious material, men began to engage in the craft.  Men have always been gold embroiderers, since the time of the prophets David, Hazrati Izhris and Yusuf, who became the patrons of gold embroidery art.

It is hard to know the truth now, why only men were allowed to do gold embroidery in the khan's workshop. Perhaps this work was hard and tedious for gentle women. Gold embroiderers-men sat on the floor for many hours, laying a cotton mat. With a wooden hoop, they painstakingly embroidered luxurious robes, turbans, and other things. Wives of masters sometimes helped their husbands from home, making small orders: embroidery on skullcaps, pillowcases, vests.

Gold embroidery was applied to local or imported fabrics or sewn elements of clothing or interior. Usually they were embroidered with gold threads (kalebatun) on velvet or silk. Metal threads were thin strips of silver, twisted on a silk thread. Gilding was applied on top. In addition to metal threads, threads of twisted silk were used for embroidery, which had a special luster and elegance. The products were decorated with applications, embossed patterns, precious stones and glitters.

Types of gold embroidery

Gold embroidery is a folk-applied art of Uzbekistan and is divided into several varieties:
•    "zarduzi-zaminduzi" - this type is a solid embroidery pattern in gold;
•    “zarduzi-gulduzi" - this kind of embroidery implies sewing over the fabric with dotted patterns or floral ornaments;
•    "zarduzi-gulduzi-zaminduzi" - this is a combined technique that combines the techniques of the first two;
•    "zarduzi-berishimduzi" - here the pattern was made by silk with alternating golden threads;
•    "zarduzi-pulyakchaduzi" - gold embroidery was combined with stitched sequins.
 The ornaments of gold embroidery were rich and could include vegetable and animal motifs, geometric patterns, complex compositions and drawings.

For example, "chashmi bulbul" means "nightingale's eye", and the ornament called "zaboni gundzheshak" translates as the tongue of a sparrow. Some symbols were related to cosmogony: "kubba" - dome, "sitora" - star, "nishon" - circle. Calligraphy, inscriptions in Arabic, quotations from works and sayings of the sages embroidered on the edges were also used.

During Soviet times, gold embroidery masters united into artels, which allowed this craft and women who are still leading in the field of gold embroidery, displacing the men.

Nowadays women embroiderers have their own gold embroidery workshops in Bukhara, teach the craft in their own schools, passing on the ancient secrets. Modern ornaments may differ slightly from the classic, each master brings in his masterpiece patterns and motifs, often creating entire paintings.

The works of Bukharian masters decorate museums in Uzbekistan and abroad, as well as are in private collections of connoisseurs of this art.

Come to Bukhara, book a hotel in Bukhara! And be sure to get acquainted with the handmade products of gold embroidery.