Introduction

Contents

Introduction ...............................................01-06 Materials and tools.........................................07 Process...........................................................08-17 Range of Product...........................................09 Marketing and Packaging...........................19 Design Intervention........................................21

Introduction

Chikankari or chikan work is a very delicate type of embroidery done by hands of artisans. It consists of 5 basic types of stitches and rest are the derivatives of these 5 basic stitches, it is believed that chikankari incorporates a total of 36-40 types of stitches. It is also called the shadow type of embroidery. In older times the chikan work was done with a white thread or yarn on plain white cotton cloth, traditionally the work was done on kurtas and other wearables but nowadays the work finds its way to other things like pillow covers, table cloth, handkerchief and cushion cover.

Place

The craft cluster for chikankari is mainly in Lucknow(near chowk) and its neighbouring cities. To be precise, the block printing is done in the Lucknow itself and the embroidery of chikan work is done in studios of different shops within Lucknow but a major chunk of work is outsourced to the outskirt of the Lucknow, namely in Malihabad, Hardoi, Shahabad and other adjoining towns.

Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh and popularly known as the City of Nawabs, the city has always been a multicultural city, Polite manners, good hospitality, beautiful gardens, architectures, art and crafts, poetry, music, and fine cuisine are in itself the trademark of this city, influenced by the different culture the city got its core value and uniqueness, in current times the city is well known amongst Indians and students of South Asian culture and history and all over the world.

History

If we have to find the origin of chikankari or chikan embroidery, we would find traces of the two different but promising origins for the work. One of the believed origin stories elaborates like this that, “a traveller who was travelling and passing through a village in Lucknow, stopped and requested a poor peasant for water. Delighted at the hospitality of the peasant, the traveller taught him the art of Chikankari, which would ensure that he would never remain hungry in life.”

However, the most popular story is that Noor Jahan, the wife of Mughal emperor Jehangir, introduced the Persian art in India in the 17th century. She herself was said to be a talented embroideress, and had a particular fondness for this alluring art. Her husband is said to have loved chikan work too.

History continued..

Started as a white-on-white embroidery form, back in the day, the favoured fabric was muslin or mulmul as it was best suited to the warm, slightly humid climate. After the downfall of the Mughal Empire, chikankari artisans spread all over India, but Lucknow remained the main centre. They captured the beauty of intricate patterns of marble 'jaali' and inlay work of the Mughal period monuments and developed this indigenous form of artistic embroidery called Chikan.

Tepchi-running stich

Comperative StudyIt is also known as the running stitch as it is done with less labour and can be achieved in less time. This stitch resembles ghaspatti and the stich on both side of the fabric seems to be identical. This stitch creates the shadow effectwhich is speciality of chikankari, and the stich on both side of the fabric is different.

Chikankari literally means embroidery work and might have been introduced by Noor Jehan, Jahangir’s wife. Chikan is a very delicate, intricate, hand-worked embroidery, which originated as a white-on-white style Ghaspatti but now, uses coloured thread as well, evolving to suit modern tastes. Chikankari has the occasional embellishment of beads, artificial pearls or shining disc. Zardozi is another handi-craft with Persian origins, which means ‘gold-work’. Zardozi is a metal embroidery style that uses fine gold or silver threads to embellish textiles, sometimes combined with pearls or precious stones.

Bakhiya