The Republic of Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Chyrpy were traditionally worn over the kurta or tunic and covered the head and shoulders, with the long vestigial sleeves hanging down the back and joined by an embroidered band. Presumably originally the sleeves were caught back when the woman needed to cook or do chores. In time these were sewn back when it was felt that the coat was more use worn this way. The chyrpe's color indicated the age of the wearer:dark blue, black or green for a young woman, yellow for a married woman of middle age, and white for the elders. The tulip is a fertility symbol The kesdi stitch is a type of buttonhole which gives a filled band with a ridge either side. See: Gillow, John and Sentance, Bryan World Textiles p189 See: Paine, Sheila Embroidered Textiles p 26 Kalter, Johannes The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan p 153
woman's chyrpy of black silk embroiderd with deep geometric bands of hooks and upright stylised tulips to the neck, front and bottom of the of coat, with stylised tulips flaring out from the side vents, all in crimson, yellow and white silks in kesdi the front with inset panels of crimson silk woven with a pattern, lined with Russian printed cotton with crimson and orange roses on a deep blue ground, the inner neck with a blue, red printed cotton and the sleeves lined with a different flowery cotton, the inside hem of a woven striped silk, the sleeves caught at the back with an embroidered band with long silk crimson and black twisted tassels, 4 ft or 1.23 cm long from pointed collar to hem.
Excellent.
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