For many centuries, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities living in the remote desert of Pakistan’s Sindh Province have based their livelihood on farming and livestock. They are also widely known for their artistry as potters and weavers, with each group maintaining its own distinctive style of dress. Sindh women in particular are admired for their talent as embroiderers. This “abocchini” (shawl/head cover) demonstrates their skill.
Abocchini have long been worn by women of all faiths, usually for rituals associated with marriage and childbirth. Handmade wedding shawls from the Thar Parkar district of Sindh please the eye for their brilliant color, intricate embroidery and designs inspired by nature, including flowers, trees, butterflies, almonds, dates and lotus pods.
A Sindh woman wearing a colorful shawl. Photo by Rita Willaert/Flickr.com.
In this delightful head cover, silk embroidery is sewn on top of a printed or drawn pattern using intense blue, green and red-orange silk floss in an assortment of complex stitching techniques. Bold red-orange flowers surround the central medallion, while butas (stylized floral sprays) fill the center space and line the borders alongside other flowers. Tiny mirrors add spots of light and sparkle. The intricate garden pattern would have been costly and time-consuming to produce, reflecting the status of the woman who would wear it.
Exemplifying the vivid color and elegant design of Sindh textiles, this abocchini would have been a source of pride to a young woman on her wedding day.
Researched by Kathryn Stevens
Kathryn Stevens has been a docent with the museum since 2007. She studied in Spain and worked for the Foreign Service in Chile, Peru, Belgium, Spain, Hong Kong and Afghanistan. She has volunteered as a teacher of English as a second language, studied at the Art League of Alexandria and is active with the Asian American Forum.