Size: 8ft 6in x 7ft 10in (260 x 240cm).Antique Uzbek Tashkent ''palak'' suzani, superb colour and condition.Circa 1890.Suzani are silk embroideries that have been woven in Uzbekistan for many hundreds of years, they are treasured family items woven by the ladies of a family usually to celebrate a wedding. They are then used to decorate the inside of the Yurt. They are embroidered in silk on strips of cotton which are then joined together to make the complete item. The suzani is then backed with fine cotton to give it strength and body.This is an excellent sample of an old Tashkent suzani called palak. This was the only kind of suzani where solar and astral motifs dominate over vegetative ones. According to ethnographical research data, big circles of the traditional palak pattern represent the moon and stars that were believed to provide good health and enhance female reproductive ability.The whole surface of the piece is entirely embroidered in silk ''basma'' couch...