Zardozi, or zar-douzi or zarduzi (from
Classical Persian زَردوزی zardōzī, literally "gold embroidery";
Modern Persian: زَردوزی,
romanized: zarduzi;
Hindi: ज़रदोज़ी,
Tajik: зардӯзӣ,
Urdu: زردوزی,
Uzbek: zardoʻzi), is an
Iranian,
Indian-subcontinent and
Central Asian embroidery type. Zardozi comes from two Persian words: zar or zarin meaning 'gold', and dozi meaning 'sewing'.[1] Zardozi is a type of heavy and elaborate metal embroidery on a silk, satin, or velvet fabric base.[2] Zardozi embroidery uses a wide variety of gold and silver embellishments such as: flat metal wires, spangles, coiled wires, heavy wires, and twisted wires.[3] Designs are often created using gold and silver threads and can incorporate pearls, beads, and precious stones.[4] It is used as decoration for a wide range of applications, including clothes, household textiles, and animal trappings.[2] Historically, it was used to adorn the walls of royal tents, scabbards, wall hangings and the paraphernalia of regal elephants and horses.[5]
Initially, the embroidery was done with pure silver wires and real gold leaves. However, today, craftsmen make use of a combination of copper wire, with a golden or silver polish, and silk thread.
Iran
Zardozi is an important
handicraft in Persian culture. It is known around the country by names such as zar-douzi (
Persian: زردوزی), kam-douzi (
Persian: کمدوزی), gol-douzi (
Persian: گلدوزی) and kaman-douzi (
Persian: کماندوزی). Nowadays it is more popular in
Hormozgan, especially in
Bandar-e Lenge,
Bandar-e Abbas, and
Minab.[6]
Persian zardozi is of three kinds:
Some people completely sew the basic fabric with Bakhie (
Persian: بخیه) in order to produce novel patterns and colors, such as the
Baloch's Souzan-douzi (
Persian: سوزندوزی),
Rasht's Qollab-douzi (
Persian: قلابدوزی) and
Kerman's Pate-douzi (
Persian: پَتهدوزی).
Some sew with less density of work on the original fabric. They cross the strings throughout the woof of the fabric and sew them to each other to form a colorfully patterned lattice, such as sekke-douzi (
Persian: سکّهدوزی) or qollab-douzi (
Persian: قلابدوزی) in
Isfahan.
A third way is to sew a variety of patterns on the original fabric with gold and silver strings, such as Dah-Yek-Douzi (
Persian: دهيکدوزی), Naqade-douzi (
Persian: نقدهدوزی), Tafte-douzi (
Persian: تافتهدوزی), Kous-douzi (
Persian: خوسدوزی) Zari-douzi (
Persian: زردوزی) or Golabatoun-douzi (
Persian: گلابتوندوزی).[6]
Indian subcontinent
As an embroidery, Zardozi was first used in the 14th century.[7] It prospered during the 17th century during the reign of the
Mughal emperorAkbar, but later a loss of royal patronage and
industrialization led to its decline. The craft began to experience a resurgence in popularity following
India's independence in 1947.[1][5]
Zardozi is a popular embroidery choice across
Pakistan especially for wedding or formal wear, with artisans and couture houses alike producing clothing with zardozi work