Download - OATG. Oxford Asian Textile Group

KARAKALPAKS
20
At first women began to embellish the edges of the aq kiymeshek aldı with a narrow border
of qızıl ushıga. Eventually the use of this became more widespread and they started to add extra
borders of qara ushıga.
An aq kiymeshek aldı edged with red and black ushıga
The intrinsic nature of this textile with its felted surface meant that it was entirely unsuitable
for cross-stitch. In time the nature of the fabric encouraged the alternative use of chain stitch,
known in Karakalpak as shınjır tigis. This resulted in the introduction of a completely new set of
free-flowing floral and zoomorphic motifs.
It is important to note that chain-stitch was only used on the ushıga borders – the main part
of the aq kiymeshek aldı continued to be executed in cross-stitch.
The next stage depended on the greater availability of, and access to, qızıl ushıga. In time
the bo’z fabric used for the aldı was replaced by ushıga. Due to the high cost of this fabric women
often could not afford one large piece and we see many kiymesheks in which the aldı is made from
a patchwork of smaller sections sewn together.
As mentioned earlier it was impossible to use cross-stitch on this new textile so the Karakalpaks
came up with an ingenious solution – they simply executed their typical mu’yiz motifs in
cross-stitch on a piece of checked cotton fabric, known as shatırash, and then inserted this into a
hole cut out of the qızıl ushıga.
The earliest qızıl kiymesheks had an aldı decorated with a horizontal band of cross stitch