SYRIAN BROCADE
Mohammad Issam Yousef
SYRIAN BROCADE Mohammad Issam Yousef
Syrian Brocade particularly and
The article will deal with Brocade as
traditional fabrics in general were very
a part of Syrian traditional fabrics, the
interesting to us, me and Manhal a
group in which a lot of fabrics are
colleague, during our undergraduate
counted in such as Damask, Aghabani,
studies in Damascus University. Thus
Al-Alaja and Al-Deema.
we write our graduation project in the fifth year on the description of the Syrian traditional fabrics.
Now and
after five years I thought of writing an article to summarize what we wrote
What is Brocade? Where does this word come from? And what does it mean? What are its patterns? How has it been used? What kind of problems is
about Brocade fabrics. www.uttu-textiles.com
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it facing? What we need to do to save
craft, thus the word mean together
and improve its production?
Ibrahim craft, weaving.
Brocade is a rich jacquard fabric
Brocade in Syria is produced using
with different designs might include
silk yarns and it is decorated with
different figures, shapes, flowers or
synthetic silver and golden threads.
animals decorated with silver and
Colours in different designs might vary
golden yarns and a twill or satin
between 7, 5, 4 and 3 colours. Seven
background.
colours designs are rich in colours, as
Syria in general, Damascus in specific, was very famous for these kinds of handcrafts because of its
you will see in the figures below and much heavier that other designs. Brocade patterns are mainly inspired
location on the historical Silk Road
by and derived from
route.
environment; you will find Syrian
One of the old famous
cerographist, Al-Idrisi 1100 - 1166,
flowers,
wrote that Damascus used to be full of
geometrical shapes, and even shapes
many brilliant handcrafts and its work
influenced by the far East such as
was like art it was so good and colourful
Cashmere pattern. Different examples
that it competed with similar work
of Brocade patterns are listed below
from all over the world especially Persia
with a brief description.
and India at that time. Even till today there is a part in old Damascus, AlKaymarya hood, used to be called ''little India'' in which fancy fabrics used to be produced.
animals,
the Syrian
stories,
Islamic
Brocade fabrics are used in furniture as a fancy cover. You can see it in the government official offices since it does represent a very old Syrian handicraft. It is also used as scarf and to some extend
Brocade is originally a Kurdish word
in traditional Syrian men clothing and
in Arabic it is pronounce as ''Brocar''. It
you can find it mainly in the old
has two parts, the first ''Bro'' which
markets in Damascus in Al-Tikia Al-
means in Kurdish Ibrahim the prophet,
Solaimania or on Al-Hamidia Souk.
and the second part is ''Car'' which means in the same language is job or
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SYRIAN BROCADE
Mohammad Issam Yousef
Big Bob is my favorite design; it is 7 colors patterns, a combination of flowers and roses from Damascus.
Figure (2) Big Bob
Small Bob, 5 colors same as Big Bob but less flowers.
Figure (3) Small Bob
7 colors pattern represents the Sinbad story. You can see that there are three different boats with different people in each one of them; it is considered a complicated pattern.
Figure (4) Boats
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It is a heavy complicated design. It tells the story of Saladin's wars and battles.
Figure (5) Saladin
7 colors patterns inspired by the famous story of one thousand nights and one night.
Figure (6) One thousand night and one night
4 colors, it can with the red dot or without.
Figure (7) Nuts
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SYRIAN BROCADE
Mohammad Issam Yousef
It is the oldest pattern and named after the place it came from.
Figure (8) Kashmir
3 colors calm and clear design. It is also called Queen Elisabeth design.
Figure (9) Love Birds
7 colors pattern inspired by the romance and love of Omar Al-Mokhtar poems.
Figure (10) Dancing Girls or Omar AlMokhtar
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5 colors pattern inspired by the wood decoration and sculpturing craft in Damascus.
Figure (11) Arabesque
3 color pattern inspired by the city of jasmine, Damascus.
Figure (12) Jasmine
7 colors pattern inspired by the decoration of the Omayyad mosque.
Figure (13) Mosaic
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SYRIAN BROCADE
Mohammad Issam Yousef
Figure (14) Damascus Rose
Nowadays, Brocade production is suffering from many problems. First of all, the lack of raw materials. The silk production in Syria is low due to decreasing numbers of silkworm farms. The silk production is concentrated in
should be created to fulfill the needs of the current market in all its aspects, garment, furniture and for tourism pleasure and historical documentation. Moreover; designs are near to both the costumer and cultural heritage.
the Syrian costal area because of the
I believe that Syrian Brocade has all
proper weather conditions, but the
the potential to be the historical and the
trend of new generations is to grow
up to date modern fabrics that can
other less labor intensive and more
represent the Syrian rich diverse culture.
productive trees.
To over come this
Understanding the experience of other
problem silk yarns should be provided
nations in preserving and improving
either by encouraging the farming of
their traditional fabric is vital to know
silkworm and planting the mulberry
how to preserve Syrian Brocade.
tree or by importing the needed yarns and both of these solutions have advantages and disadvantages.
References
Secondly, the narrow applications for current fabric design. Most of the designs are old and not likely to be fashionable
for
manufacturing.
modern
garment
- http://www.syriangate.com/ -Other Arabic references and interviews with the main producers in Syria.
Thus new design
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