Wednesday, December 21, 2016

18th Century Marash Armenian Embroidery

The above photo was posted by Özcan Gülkesen‎Birzamanlar Maraş

Note the crosses which would indicate that Armenian folks living in Marash made the embroidery pictured above.   "Marash Nakhush", as father Peter would call it, but the examples in Marash Girl's house did not look like the above.  The examples she grew up with were pillows encased in black velvet with the design made by embroidered tiny crosses.  If she can find such a pillow, she'll picture it in a future blog. Or if anyone out there has such a pillow, please send Marash Girl a photo of the pillow, or the pillow itself would be nice too!
18.yüzyıldan kalma Maraş işi dantel örneği
An example of lacework dating from the 18th century; for samples and information on Marash-style embroidery,
Kaynak: Honolulu Academy of Arts [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Posted by Marash Girl at 5:00 AM
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1 comment:

  1. KarenDecember 30, 2016 at 11:11 PM

    My Kergin's mother was from Marash by way of Aleppo, and she made those pillows! As a child I didn't realize they were embroidery, somehow I thought they were made of rickrack sewn onto the velvet! Much later I learned what they really were and now I understand the work and artistry that my elderly in-law put into them.

    The art is still alive among Armenians from Aleppo who are Marashtzi. I bought a couple of souvenir samples from some Aleppo refugees in Yerevan at a craft display.

    After weeks of patient tutelage in class with Susan Lind-Sinanian at ALMA a couple of years ago, I was able to decorate a little needle case for my sister with some passable Marash embroidery. Here it is:
    https://flic.kr/p/QyS7fv

    I was so proud of this! But it's nothing in comparison to those black velvet pillows. I remember the sweeps and swirls of color on them like fireworks against a dark sky.

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