Unknown Maker, Indian

Loyal to the sartorial traditions of their Central Asian homeland, the earliest Muslim rulers in India, as well as those of the later Mughal Empire, retained the basic components of Islamic men’s and women’s dress: loose outer robes worn over a long undergarment and wide trousers. Nonetheless, regional styles of embellishment did much to personalize the uncomplicated cuts of the individual components. On this straight, tunic-like kurta, the applied pattern drawn with gold threads represents a long tradition of such ornamentation perfected by Indian Muslim craftsmen over the centuries. The gold designs accent a rare gauze-weave silk fabric, likely imported from China, decorated with one more layer of visual allure, this one patterned using the age-old bandhani (tie-dyeing) technique that is a specialty of artisans living in western India.