Portion of a Loom Length

The production of silk velvet ikat was a specialty of the highly skilled weavers in Bukhara between the late 1860s and about 1910. The luxurious fabric was fashioned into women's robes as dowry items intended for special occasions such as weddings and funerals. The loom length fragment on the left, with a pattern of repeating medallion forms, dates from the early years of production, when natural dyes were still being used. The piece on the right has a rare animal skin pattern of foreign origin, whose exoticism must have appealed to the Bukharan court. Full loom lengths are known to exceed 22 feet.