Item #1072 [THE PAMIRIS’ ART] Ornament gornykh tadzhikov Darvaza (Nagornaia Bukhara) [i.e. Ornament of Darvaz Pamiris (Bukhara)]. A. Bobrinskii.
[THE PAMIRIS’ ART] Ornament gornykh tadzhikov Darvaza (Nagornaia Bukhara) [i.e. Ornament of Darvaz Pamiris (Bukhara)]
[THE PAMIRIS’ ART] Ornament gornykh tadzhikov Darvaza (Nagornaia Bukhara) [i.e. Ornament of Darvaz Pamiris (Bukhara)]
[THE PAMIRIS’ ART] Ornament gornykh tadzhikov Darvaza (Nagornaia Bukhara) [i.e. Ornament of Darvaz Pamiris (Bukhara)]

[THE PAMIRIS’ ART] Ornament gornykh tadzhikov Darvaza (Nagornaia Bukhara) [i.e. Ornament of Darvaz Pamiris (Bukhara)]

Moscow: Tipo-lit. t-va I.N. Kushnerev i Ko, 1900. Item #1072

[4] pp., 20 ills. 37х29 cm. In original cardboards. Very good, foxing occasionally, slightly rubbed, bookplate on the rear side of the front cover.

First edition. Scarce.
An interesting survey of traditional ornaments of Pamiris, an ethnic group of Tajik people. Some of their settlements were located in Darvaz, a southeastern part of the Bukhara region in the western part of the Pamir Plateau, on the right bank of the Pyanj River (some parts of which form the border between modern Afghanistan and Tajikistan). According to the author, this is a picturesque and fertile land. Darvaz is characterized by a mixed population, which is explained by centuries of conquests and proximity to the routes connecting India and Central Asia. The author divides local residents into five types depending on their physical traits, and notes that most of them are Sunni Muslims who are not particularly religious.
In the text introduction, historian Alexei Bobrinskii (1852-1927) overviewed the area itself, Pamiri customs, occupations and culture. In particular, their clothes preserved national ornaments with typical images and colors. Women decorated veils, collars, sleeves, chest of dresses, head and neck bands, head coverings and towels. The author was most interested in women’s ceremonial veils or chashbands. Such veils were more likely to be a heritage of rich families than a necessity: Tajik women didn’t need to cover their faces.
The book features a collection of local patterns printed on the separate leaves. They are divided into two sections: silk embroidery over cotton fabric (leaves #1-9) and knitted woolen stockings (leaves #10-19). In contrast to embroidery, woolen stockings were local-made and imported that allowed Bobrinskii to compare knitting quality and patterns. The 20th leaf depicts a patterned woolen rug. Among reproductions are five colored and fifteen black and white images.

Worldcat shows copies located in the Library of Congress, Princeton, Yale, Wisconsin, Duke, Virginia Universities and NYPL.

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