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JAT INDIGO SKIRT WITH CYPRESS
TREE MOTIF
EAST PUNJAB (NOW HARYANA), CIRCA 1930
Handspun and handwoven khadi dyed indigo, hand
embroidered with cotton thread
Length 25.75 in (66 cm),
lower width 113.25 in (288 cm)
$ 3,035 - 4,550
Rs 2,00,000 - 3,00,000
The present lot is an extremely rare, seldom seen
woman’s skirt from the Jat community of Haryana.
The Jats were originally nomadic pastoralists from the
lower Indus valley of Sindh. Many of them are now
agriculturists in North India.
The handspun, handwoven skirt is dyed in
deep indigo and embroidered with slender Cypress
trees in yellow cotton thread. Known locally as
sarhu
,
the sacred tree is associated with immortality. The
waistband, with a red cotton tie, is embroidered with
a grid-like pattern, attached to a neatly pleated red
band of fabric. The blue indigo skirt spans out below.