Hunza valley embroidery
Brown Cushion Cover with Cream Eight-Point Star Grid
Cushions
A dark brown ground carries a grid of eight-pointed stars in cream, rust and teal, with small stepped and hooked motifs between them and a border of rosettes and dotted bands. The repeating star and serrated forms recall the geometric snow-leopard and ibex-horn motifs of Hunza needlework, in the manner of Tamuts and Turangkish patterning. Embroidered in silk cross stitch on a woven ground, the deep ground and bright stars give a warm, traditional character to the home.
The tradition
Hunza valley embroidery
Embroidery is the secret weapon behind Hunza Carpet, and the cushion covers are where it is most intimate. The tradition grows out of the pillbox caps that Hunza women embroidered for their own use, worked with Chinese silk that arrived over the passes on Silk Route caravans.
Today educated women artisans embroider cushion covers with the same fine silk-thread stitches, reviving old cap-and-veil designs alongside new compositions for the home.
Motifs & meaning
Reading the design
Cushion designs draw directly on the names and meanings recorded in Hunza's embroidery tradition.
Turangkish
Ibex horns — the emblem of the Karakoram's wild goat.
Tamuts
The snow leopard, elusive guardian of the high mountains.
Urki itsu
A wolf's foot, a protective tracking motif.
Kishtimuts
A boat, recalling travel and the crossing of waters.
Materials & technique
How it is made
Hand-embroidered in real silk thread using Hunza's traditional stitches — erāghi cross and roll stitch, qalmi long-and-short floral work — on a woven ground.
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