Fine chikan embroidery on a muslin cotton angarkha (1850/1900) by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
Cikankārī embroidery from Lucknow is reputed to be amongst the most refined needlework traditions of India. Classic cikan embroidery is white on white on sheer white fabric and is done with untwisted cotton thread.
Topi by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
There is not one consensus about its origins. It may have originated in Bengal as a faster and simpler way of imitating jamdānī, and then traveled westward to Lucknow where it developed an aesthetic of its own. It found new patronage with the sophisticated elite at the court of the Nawabs of Awadh.
Cikankārī involves multiple processes. It starts with block printing of the design onto the fabric. The choice of blocks suggests the kind of stitches that may be incorporated for a particular piece and the placement of the blocks results in the final aesthetics of the design. The piece is then handed over for embroidery, mostly to women, in this once male- dominated craft. The embroidered piece then goes for finishing, stray threads are snipped, and then on to the dhōbī for the final wash and finishing.
The number of stitches in cikankārī is vast. Some specialists talk of 32 stitches of cikan embroidery. Different stitches combined in a motif give interesting textural effects. Flat, raised and jālī stitches are combined in complex patterns. Very accomplished craftspersons know the entire repertoire of stitches, whereas others specialize only in a few.
Phanda and Murri (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
One of the most popular stitches is the bakhiā, popularly called shadow-work. It is a fine herringbone, worked from the wrong side of the fabric to give a shadow effect from the front.
Murrī and phandā are characterized by embossed stitches and are identifiers for higher quality work. Phanda looks like a tiny round pearl and murrī is shaped like a rice grain.
Other stitches include the hūl (eyelit stitch), the zanjīrā (chain like stitch), and ghāspattī. The jālī or net is open work and the quality of the jālī is the chief criteria to judge the quality of workmanship. Jālī is executed by pulling apart the warp and weft and producing the net effect by tiny and tight stitches. It generally fills the heart of a flower in a pattern. There are six different forms of jālī, some being very complex.
Jali stiches (2022) by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
Jali stitches
Left to right: Sādi Jāli, Makrā Jāli and Kaṭōri Jāli.
Tepchi stich (2022) by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
Tēpchī is a simple running stitch and was originally used to imitate jamdānī weave. It is versatile enough to be the only stitch used to embroider an entire garment.
Daraz (2022) by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
The daraz is an interesting reversible seam often associated with cikankārī on muslin. It is a decorative seam with several patterns suchas machlī kā daraz, tārā pattī and nīm pattī which can be further embellished with open work.
Daraz (2022) by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
A decorative hemming on the shoulder seam of some old kurtas, with its printing block.
Chikankari (2022)Lucknow Bioscope
Cikan motifs are stylized and derived from flora. They could be trailing vines or pān-shaped, simple būṭīs or a kairī or turanj. The fish motif is very popular in Lucknow, echoing the royal insignia of the Nawabs of Awadh which was a pair of fish.
Chikan embroidery on a traditional Lucknow dopalli topi of fine cotton (1940/1949) by UnknownLucknow Bioscope
Cikan embroidery on a traditional Lucknow dōpalli ṭōpi of fine cotton
Contemporary cikankārī is also done on chiffon and tussar silk with both white and colored thread being used for the embroidery.
History of the craft, its development in Lucknow and current trends.
"Daraz” is a technique of joining together different portions of a garment using a corrective pattern and reversible stitch usually found in old chikankari work.
This video is about the process of block making for chikan embroidery and problems faced by blockmakers.
A glimpse of the lives of chikan workers
Curation: Noor Khan & Saman Habib
Special thanks to: Paola Manfredi, Mamta Verma
Photography: Ayan Bose, Tasveer Hasan
Team: Nagma Ehtesham, Nasreen Khan, Nimra Rizvi, Mariyam Imran, Saman Habib, Noor Khan
Text, Editing and Translation: Saman Habib, Noor Khan, Isha Priya Singh, Sabiha Anwar, Waseem Ahmed, Stuti Mishra, Divya Joshi
Video: Aisha Khatoon
Gracious Contribution by:
Amir Jamal
Faraz Ali Zaidi
Mamta Verma
Paola Manfredi
