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Ghabani Embroidery (Syria)

Detail of modern Ghabani embroidery from Syria. Detail of modern Ghabani embroidery from Syria.

Ghabani embroidery is a form of chain stitch work from Syria, which is carried out with a hook rather than a needle. It probably derives from the Indian ari embroiderytradition. The word ghabani can be used for both this form of embroidery and for the end product decorated with this type of embroidery.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, much of the ghabani used in the Eastern Mediterranean came from Aleppo and Damascus. Until the mid-twentieth century most examples of ghabani were produced by hand, but it was quickly superseded by machine versions.

Ghabani was exported throughout the Middle East and was used for objects such as covers, curtains and table cloths as well as for men’s clothing, such as coats, sashes and turbans. It was also used in the early twentieth century for a style of wedding dress for women from the Jerusalem region of Palestine.

Source: VOGELSANG-EASTWOOD, Gillian and Caroline STONE (2016). 'Embroidery from Syria,' in: Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood (ed.), Encyclopedia of Embroidery from the Arab World, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 444-475, esp. p. 446.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 3 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Monday, 17 April 2017 18:08