When I was in Uzbekistan, I bought a small piece of gold embroidery that is being produced for the tourist market. Nothing high-end, but fun nonetheless. Recreating the embroidery is a great way to learn about Uzbek gold embroidery and its main techniques and materials. Let's start stitching! As always, a PDF download is available for my Journeyman and Master Patreons.

Uzbek gold embroidery is traditionally worked on a piece of velvet backed with calico. One of the main techniques is called zardozi-guldozi and consists of gimped couching over cardboard padding. The gold threads used are far thinner and more flexible than what is usually used in the West. A good substitute would be metallic sewing thread. You will also need a passing thread or a thin Japanese thread for the outline.

Print the above template onto a piece of thin cardboard. Cut it out carefully. Glue a small piece of velvet (a different colour than your background) behind the central design element.

Tack the cardboard padding in place. Wear a thimble to protect your fingers.

You will couch down five strands of your thin metallic thread with each couching stitch. This embroidery was made for the tourist market, so speed is important. Using one or even two strands would take far too long. You lay your bundle of threads back and forth over the cardboard padding and you couch down alongside the cardboard. Tails are either hidden under the cardboard or plunged and tied back on the reverse.

You will sometimes need to fan your stitches to be able to follow the shape correctly and to completely fill it. An extreme case is the central element around the glued piece of velvet. At the bottom, you will need to stitch through the cardboard padding.

Fill the large leaf with a couching pattern of your choice. I have used a chevron pattern called mauji-duruya.

Finish the sample by couching an outline with passing or Japanese thread around the piece. Make small loops in the appropriate places and a tendril at the side. The row of loops/coils on the bottom part of the leaf is called kabuli. It hints at an Afghan origin of the technique.

Working over cardboard is very similar to working over parchment padding. This was a common technique in medieval goldwork embroidery. The small coils are also frequently seen. What is very different is the softness of the gold threads. The origianls are even finer and softer making for a smoother surface.

If you would like a PDF download of the instructions including 21 step-by-step photographs, please consider becoming a Journeyman or Master Patron.

We were presented with a captivating book on Uzbek Gold Embroidery at the start of the International Festival of Gold Embroidery in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. This exquisite book, adorned with chapters on the rich history of gold embroidery, the vibrant community of gold embroiderers in Bukhara, materials, tools, techniques, and a catalogue of both historic and contemporary masterpieces, is a treasure trove for any embroidery enthusiast. Approximately half of the book is dedicated to stunning pictures of gold embroidery. Regrettably, only the chapters on the history of gold embroidery, the organisation of the gold embroiderers in Bukhara, and the catalogue are translated into English. Despite this, it is a book that undoubtedly deserves a place on your shelves!

The book is authored by Bakhshillo Dzhumaev (or Jumayev), a seventh-generation gold embroiderer in Bukhara who has successfully passed on the craft to his son. Although I did not have the opportunity to meet him, I did meet his son and was graciously given a tour of the family business. However, the most significant encounter was with his mother, Muqaddas Jumayeva. She patiently demonstrated some typical Bukhara techniques of gimped couching. I also had the privilege of exchanging my broche for hers, a precious memento from my journey. The Jumayev family are the epitome of gold embroidery royalty, and I am deeply honoured that they shared their knowledge and craft with me.

The chapter on the ancient history of gold embroidery mainly contains quotes from classical sources. Unfortunately, recent research has shown that we should be very careful with their interpretation. They are more likely to talk about woven textiles and not gold-embroidered textiles. However, archaeological finds from Central Asia and Uzbekistan, in particular, show that gold embroidery was known as early as the first or second century AD. Unfortunately, no reference is stated for these archaeological finds from a female grave in the Tashkent region made by M.E. Voronts. If you know of a publication, please let me know. More secure historical sources date back to the 15th century.

The chapter on the art of gold embroidery of Bukhara is a real gem. From at least the 16th century onwards, Bukhara was the region's gold embroidery centre. There were two categories of gold embroiderers (again, a male profession with related females only acting as assistants when the workload required it): one group worked directly for the ruler in the palace workshops, and the other group worked in small family businesses located in town. In order to be able to quickly deliver larger orders, there was a labour division with many embroiderers working on the same piece. And just as is the case with medieval goldwork from Europe, pieces were not signed and almost never dated.

The embroiderers were organised in a guild with a single guild master and his assistant overlooking production. This person was called an Aksakal. He was responsible for the fair distribution of the orders amongst the guild members and acted as a mediator between the palace workshops and the many private workshops. The guild also marked births, weddings and funerals of its members. Every year in the spring, there was a kind of a trade fair or festival called Guli Surkh. The embroidery masters would present their products there.

Gold embroidery was inherited from father to son (and, in more recent times, also to daughters). If you learned from your father, you were considered a master. Sometimes, more distant relatives or the children of neighbours were also allowed to become apprentices. These apprentices went through a long training period before becoming a master. Similar to apprentices in Western Europe, they did not receive a wage but were given board and bed instead. Apprentices started with cleaning the workshop, then they were allowed to wind the broches (called patella), set up the slate frames (koruna) and finally were allowed to embroider flowers before being shown the more complicated techniques and patterns.

Interestingly, storytellers would visit the embroidery workshops once or twice a week to read the guild regulations whilst the embroiderers were working. These regulations contained a history of the craft, rules on how the embroiderers were to behave towards their customers and their apprentices, the quality of the work and materials used, the cleanliness of the embroiderer and his workshop and the prayers that needed to be said before, during and after the work. The gold embroiderers also venerate a patron saint, Hazrat Yusuf. As we know, medieval guilds also had their patron saints; one wonders if there were 'work' prayers said also.

Unfortunately, the materials, tools and techniques chapters do not come with an English translation. Neither do the many biographies of past and present gold embroiderers featured in the book. It has proven rather difficult to translate these parts from Uzbek into English. My normal method does not seem to work as Uzbek is too obscure a language. Nevertheless, I will try to find out what is written here as I have a feeling that it is quite important.

The second very important thing that eludes me at the moment is where to get the book. It has an ISBN number (978-9943-8192-9-0) but a search on the web does not return anything. A google image search of the cover did not return anything either. The publisher is Sahhof in Tashkent. And again, a search does not return anything. If you can offer any help here, please let me know so that I can share it with the wider embroidery community. Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Literature
Dzhumaev, B., 2022. Art of Gold Embroidery. Sahhof, Tashkent.
Gleba, M., 2008. Auratae vestes: Gold textiles in the ancient Mediterranean, in: Alfaro, C., Karali, L. (Eds.), Purpureae Vestes II, Vestidos, Textiles y Tintes: Estudios sober la produccion de bienes de consumo en la antiguidad. University of València, València, pp. 61–77.

On Tuesday, I arrived back home from my amazing trip to the International Festival of Gold Embroidery in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Although I am an experienced traveller, with places like Libya under my belt, I have never experienced anything like this. The people were warm, open and very interested in my craft. Some festival visitors had been gold embroiderers themselves or had close relatives who were gold embroiderers. As gold embroidery is still very much visible in Bukhara, people see it as their precious heritage worthy of preservation. Some were amazed that, in far-away very exotic Western Europe, gold embroidery is practised too. I even met an elderly lady who had been a German teacher all her life. She was so happy to speak with a near-native speaker for the first time in her life.

So, what did I do? As you can see in the picture above, I had a small booth. My embroideries were in the display case behind me. Two posters explained my goal of understanding medieval goldwork embroidery by making replicas. During the festival, I sat in front of my booth and demonstrated goldwork embroidery. My Lowery workstand and Jenny Adin Christie slate frame were much admired by my fellow embroiderers from all over the world. Behind me stands my trusty volunteer Shaxina. She was a gem! As she studied to become an English teacher she was able to translate for me between Uzbek/Russian and English. We soon found out that Uzbek and Russian people ask exactly the same question as European visitors do: Is that real gold? However, their question has a deeper layer. Modern Uzbek gold embroidery is often done with fake gold. The real deal is just too expensive. Only in special cases do they still use gilt threads.

The fact that I demonstrated goldwork embroidery all day long was much appreciated. Many visitors took pictures with me. And I was hugged many times :). The fact that I was couching down a single very thin real gold thread on a silken background was somewhat unusual. Modern Uzbek embroidery often uses multiple gold threads. Just like in Europe, in order to survive as a craft the techniques had to adapt to speed the process up. One policeman took pity on me and offered to bring his mum's embroidery machine ...

It is hard to describe the festive atmosphere of the festival. We were located just opposite the ancient citadel. The main thoroughfare was blocked and turned into an elongated square along which our booths were set up. When we arrived at Bukhara train station we were welcomed with song and dance. The same on the first day of the festival. A long procession of gigantic puppets, dancers and musicians came past our booths. The costumes of the people were decorated with elaborate goldwork embroidery. On the first evening, we were invited to a lovely concert with yet more song and dance. And probably a history lesson with actors coming out of the citadel. You can see a video of it on YouTube. It contains beautiful close-ups of the gold-embroidered costumes the dancers are wearing.

On the last evening, I was awarded $900 for becoming second in the category: "The gold embroiderer who revived ancient traditions" (c. 59:19 in the above video). I felt valued and grateful. Especially as I had a nasty experience with a Dutch visitor earlier that day. She walked up to my booth and exclaimed: "This has absolutely nothing to do with the Netherlands. Why are you here pretending that this is a Dutch tradition?". Yup, even after travelling 4300 km my own people can not be nice. However, the beautiful award on my wall will daily remind me that my work as an embroiderer and researcher is valued and on par with similar international efforts!

Although the days were very full and tiring, I did manage to ask questions and observe goldwork embroiderers from all over the world. I even traded my broche for a Bukhara one with the grand dame of Bukhara goldwork embroidery: Muqaddas Jumayeva. Observing her work was a treat! All festival participants were also given a traditional gold embroidered (machine) velvet mantle and a book on the history of gold embroidery in Bukhara. More on the book next week!