
The preparation of yarn also consisted of several stages, which include unwinding silkworm cocoons, patterning threads and stepped dyeing (a method known as abrbandi). The cotton thread production process is subdivided into removal of seeds from cotton wool, spinning and warping. The final phase consisted of glossing cotton and semi-silk fabrics, painting silk shawls and scarves, printing and bleaching cotton fabrics.
Two different specialists worked on printing. Chitgars printed patterns on cotton warps with special stamps – kolibs. Rumolsozes used the same method for scarves and other small items.
Thread dyeing played an important role in textile production. In the late 19th – early 20th centuries, there were two separate processes – hot dyeing with all pigments except blue, and cold dyeing with a blue pigment. This type of work was always done only by local Jews. Natural animal and plant pigments have traditionally been used in Central Asia.
Starting from the second half of the 19th century, people started using the first synthetic (aniline) dyes that appeared on the local market due to trade contacts with Russia. Fabrics dyed with them often lost their colors, but soon the quality of synthetic dyes significantly improved. Now, however, masters are trying to return to the old dyeing technologies using various plants grown in Uzbekistan.
The collection of the Náprstek Museum includes several examples of silk ikat fabrics dated to the late 19th – late 20th centuries. One of the most remarkable items is a silk curtain from Bukhara called shoyi with a traditional local design and range of colors. Other fabrics represented in the collection (for example, karbos, bekasab, adras) are materials for clothing and embroideries for interior decoration (suzani).
Mavzu doirasida batafsil “O‘zbekiston madaniy merosi jahon to‘plamlarida" turkumidagi “Chexiya Respublikasi to‘plamlari” kitob-albomida (XVI jild) tanishishingiz mumkin.
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.