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Indian Kashmiri, Kashmir

Choga (Man's Robe), late 1800s

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Indian

Title

Choga (Man's Robe)

Year

late 1800s

Medium

Pashm (goat hair) kani weave (double-interlocking twill tapestry weave)

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • wool,
  • goat hair,
  • pashmina

Dimensions

108.6 cm (42 3/4 inches) center-back length:

Place

Kashmir

Type

  • Fashion,
  • Costume

Credit

Bequest of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

55.263

Projects & Publications

Publications

Glimpses of Grandeur

Courtly Arts of the Later Islamic Empires

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Sartorial Sanctuary

December 19, 2008 - April 26, 2009

The open coat and trouser ensemble traveled not only westward, but also southward from Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Though coats, tunics, and other stitched garments pre-existed the establishment of Islam in India, it was the Muslim Mughal rulers who inspired the widespread fashion for wearing these garments in the elite courts. The early Mughal rulers also saw fit to establish and support royal weaving workshops throughout the country. With this patronage, traditional techniques such as the breathtakingly intricate tapestry weave used to construct this coat soared to new heights, enabling veritable recreations of heavenly gardens in garment form.

Glimpses of Grandeur

September 24 - December 26, 1999

The Kashmir Shawl

December 13, 1996 - March 2, 1997

Indian Textiles from the RISD Collection

November 1, 1985

Shawl Exhibition. March 1982.

March 1, 1982

Asian Art Galleries

This densely patterned open coat is an example of a Kashmiri woven jamawar textile fashioned into a garment. Adorned here with an all-over pattern of ambis (mango-shaped motifs), pomegranates, and flowers, the choga was a robe popularized in the Mughal courts of South Asia. The presence of flowers from the Persian landscape, including tulips, irises, and lilies, indicates a design migration between Persia and South Asia. Jamawars were typically woven in Kashmir and assembled into exquisite garments in Persia. While this garment might have been made for a South Asian patron, its Persian aesthetics make it a rich example of cultural and material exchange.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Choga (Man's Robe) with the accession number of 55.263. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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