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Akho Garo (fully embroidered) Sari
20th century CE
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS)
Mumbai, India
This sari belong to Meheren Bhabha, mother of Shri Homi Bhabha.
Appreciative of Chinese embroidery, parsi traders bought embroidered silks for their families and placed orders of embroidered sari borders, saris, blouses and pantloons. Many of these motifs have symbolic meaning. The peony and the magnolia signigy spring, fungus and bamboo for longevity, deer and crane symbolize long life, and butterflies are the emblem of happiness.
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Details
- Title: Akho Garo (fully embroidered) Sari
- Date Created: 20th century CE
- Location: India
- Provenance: Gift of Maki S. Masani
- Type: Sari
- Medium: Silk with embroidery
- Remarks: Heirloom
- Region: Mumbai, Maharashtra
- History of Style of Technique: Garo has become an identity for Parsi women. It is worn on special occasions as well as at marriages. By the early 19th century prominent Parsis owned shipping companies and piled a profitable trade with China. Appreciative of Chinese embroidery, Parsi traders bought embroidered silks for their families and placed orders for embroidered sari borders, saris, blouses and pantaloons. The embroidery was worked on a variety of Chinese silks. Over time, the word garo (from the Gujarati word for a sari) was associated with the Chinese embroidered sari. The design and motifs were essentially Chinese mainly depicting floral creepers, birds and animals. Many of these motifs have symbolic meaning. The peony and the magnolia signify spring, fungus and bamboo for longevity, deer and crane symbolize long life, and butterflies are the emblem of happiness. Garo motifs were generally embroidered in long and short satin and the tiny kha-kha or seed-pearl stitch akin to a minute French knot.
- Accession Number: 2013.20
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