Quilted Brocade Robe

January, 2024

Quilted Brocade Robe

Maker Unidentified

Quilted clothing can be found all over the world. Although common sense might suggest that quilted clothing would mainly appear in far northern regions, the deserts of Central Asia, with their hot days and chilly nights, have also inspired the production of quilted garments. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the traditional clothing of Uzbek men, women and children was all fairly similar. Robes (khalats or chapans) were generally long and spacious with a front opening, often lined with printed cottons and faced with a wide variety of fabrics, from silk velvets and metallic brocades to tied-and-dyed ikats and plain and printed cottons. These robes were often quilted to hold the warming layers more firmly together. This example features a luxurious metallic brocade with narrowly spaced vertical lines of quilting covering the entire surface, making for a textured and somewhat stiff appearance and feel.

Quilted brocade robe (chapan or khalat)
Maker unidentified
Probably made in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, c. 1880-1900
Gift of the Robert and Ardis James Foundation, IQM 2015.058.0004