Prints and Patterns: Vibrant Ikats.

Woman's coat (munisak), Uzbekistan (Bukhara region), 1850-1900. Silk, cut-velvet ikat, resist-dyed pile warp, height: 46 1/2" (118 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift in memory of Jay Abrams 58.342.

The stunningly bold patterns on this woman's coat were created by a process called ikat. Ikat is a very difficult and laborious process because the threads are patterned by repeated tying and dyeing before they are woven into cloth. The ikat textiles created in Central Asia during the nineteenth century are unique in their vibrant color and explosive patterns. The clothing and wall hangings produced in such cities as Bukhara and Samarkand (in today's Uzbekistan) brought brilliant color to the people of those stark, desert cities. Women raised the silk moth larvae whose cocoons supplied the filaments for weaving. Men dyed the threads, wove them, and polished the finished fabric to give it luster. This munisak, a woman's coat characterized by extra fullness at the hips, is constructed of plush velvet ikat which gives the garment a lush tactile texture as well as a patterned visual texture

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Look carefully at how the artists have chosen to repeat geometric shapes to create patterns. Which areas of the design are symmetrical and asymmetrical?

Notice the vibrant colors the artists have achieved with the dyes. What natural materials might you use to create colored dyes?

GalleryCard submitted by Maureen Albano, artist and educator, Department of Education and Public Programs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.