My Saturday Loot: Vintage Russian Shawls

Today's loot is plentiful: five large wool Russian shawls, one small Russian scarf, and two silk blend Russian shawls. I am overwhelmed by this bounty and will have to spend several hours to take photos and list the shawls in our Etsy shop. In the meantime, I will just share some general view photos of the wool shawls Enjoy!

  

Wine Colored Russian Shawl

This burgundy coloured beauty is now for sale in our Etsy shop, Mulberry Whisper. This is a classic Russian shawl with a traditional design, full of roses and lilies, framed with garlands of smaller flowers. It is vintage from 1970s-1980s. This is a lovely shawl, I have a similar one in black here, also a beauty. Every find like this brings me lots of joy; looking at them, touching and draping them is a pleasure.

Coral Flowers of Japanese Quince

In the spring, Uzbekistan is full of flowers - whenever you look, you will see a tree in bloom. Cherry, apricot, almond, apple... All of these are lovely, and it is hard to choose a favorite, but Japanese quince certainly stands out. I adore these abundant coral flowers; it is a pity that they will disappear soon. I must enjoy their beauty while I can.

Portrait of a Girl with Suzani

V. Kovinin. Portrait of a Girl. 1971. State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan.

This is a beautiful portrait. I think the girl is not Uzbek, but Gypsy - they are called "luli" here.  She is rather dark, and the features are more typical of these Central Asian gypsies. Her coral dress perfectly suits her colors, and her headpiece is quite unusual. The girl's eyebrows are colored with the juice of arugula  or rugola sap which is the traditional treatment for eyebrows and eyelids in Uzbekistan.

...Note the gorgeous suzani in the background - I told you, they used to be everywhere. Not so much now, thought - they are being replaced by faceless acrylic rugs.

I love the picture, its rich colors and warm atmosphere. I hope that the girl has lived a happy life, and is still living somewhere with her family. I wonder if she knows about her portrait in the museum or has long forgotten about those sessions.

Surrounded by Suzani

It is easy to see why suzani are so much loved. People love them, because they are bright, intricate, exotic and different. They bear a flavour of faraway countries, gardens behind high walls in the middle of deserts, little spice shops and huge bazaars. However, to me they are no exotic at all, because I live in their country of origin. I am used to seeing them around, mostly in other people's houses. And my mother used to work as a designer for a Tashkent factory which produced national clothing and suzani, just like those that we used to make pillows below. I used to visit her work often and could not care less for these pieces of needlework which were in abundance there. To me, an equestrian silk scarf is exotic, because we do not have them here. A suzani is not! 

I really did not care for suzani when I was a child. I thought they were too bright and with too many details. I felt that they made my eyes tired. However, at some point I saw them in different eyes, when my mother told me about symbolical meanings of their elements. Yes, as in the case of most folk arts, all those details are not just to be beatiful. Some elements are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity, others - to protect your health and life. When you start realising how much love and care people gave when designing and making these things, you begin appreciating them more. 

And then, later, I stopped being so fixated on neutral colors and plain designs which I always used to prefer, and began really enjoying the burst of colors and the sophisticated curving lines of traditional Uzbek suzani. Why having plain green pillows in that green sofa? I would really feel like a frog sitting in a marsh. This is not to say that I do not love frogs - I do! - but something like a wonderful garden in bloom would also be nice, so there you go, suzani pillows! 

The light was not so great, but at least we can see them sitting pretty together. I think they are beautiful!  All of the suzani pillows or bags we are offering at Mulberry Whisper are one of a kind or limited edition. These vintage suzani are not easy to find, and they are not cheap, too. I buy them when I can. 

The square pillow, 18 x 18 inches, can be bought here

These suzani are embroidered in tambour stitch. This is hand-guided machine embroidery which is still considered handwork, because the machine is controlled by a person, not by a computer. Of course it is much faster than working with your hands and a needle, but this is still a hard and tedious work. And the result is beautiful.



The long pillow, 13 x 26 inches, can be bought here

When I have a bit of time and inspiration, I will write about antique suzani and the meaning of the elements. I think this is a fascinating topic.