Lot 42
A WOVEN SILK VELVET IKAT PANEL
CENTRAL ASIA, UZBEKISTAN, 19TH CENTURY
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
the panel formed of three strips sewn together, in rich colours of burgundy red, yellow, white and green, the decoration forming a lattice design consisting of white diamond-shaped medallions enclosing similar-shaped motifs, with small ram's horn motifs, backed
Dimensions
114cm x 109cm
Footnote
Unlike standard velvets where patterns are woven or printed onto finished fabric, Ikat velvet requires an incredibly complex, labor-intensive process. Master craftsmen mapped out the design and dyed the silk warp threads in sections before the fabric was ever woven. Because the threads naturally shifted slightly on the loom, the resulting patterns featured famously bled, vibrating edges.
During the 19th century, these velvets became ultimate symbols of wealth and prestige along the Silk Road, particularly in the Uzbek oases of Bukhara and Samarkand. Their striking, large-scale geometric motifs and fiercely vibrant natural dyes - ranging from fiery cochineal reds to brilliant saffron yellows - create a bold, graphic impact that remains utterly unmistakable to historians and designers alike.