An opportunity to visit the famous Savitsky Museum of Arts became a real blessing for him. It was that visit that inspired the researcher to begin collecting things.
The tunic-like zhegde for young women was made of red fabric with narrow white strips – kyzyl zhegde. The collar was embroidered with silk chain and buttonhole stitch ilme on a red ground with black trim. The collar décor features vegetal, zoomorphic and object motifs: korgaly gul (an enclosed flower), kumyrska bel (the ant’s waist), kos muyiz (a pair of horns), kurbaka (a frog), omyrtka (the vertebra), kelep agash (a weaving tool) and others.
Other traditional examples of Karakalpak embroidery are zhengse – attachable sleeves for the woman’s silk robe zhipek shapan, aydynly shapan and fur coats (ton), and zheng ush – the cuffs of a woman’s dress decorated with multi-colored embroidery. The chest cover ongirshe is made of black and red cloth and forms a part of the ceremonial clothing of unmarried girls. Additionally, silver adornments are woven onto the silk-embroidered surface of an ongirshe: the amulet khaykel, hollow eggshaped buttons zhumalak tuyme, figured badges ayry tuyme and (attached later) coins. The ongirshe was tied at the back of the neck with laces attached to the upper part of the item.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "The Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan in private collections of the USA and Canada" (volume XXXI) in the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.