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1999.33.46

Cover for a gun.

1999.33.46

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Collection type
Object
Description
Cover for a gun.
Long description
Cover for a gun. The cover is made from a long strip consisting of two layers of textile which have been folded over and stitched together at both ends and also along part of the side. The bottom layer of the cover is made of red cotton textile and the upper layer is made of purplish silk textile which has been embroidered all over with designs in silk yarn and metal couched cotton yarn. The embroidery is mainly in orange coloured silk yarn but there is also some embroidery in dark purple yarn. The metal threads are made of cotton around which a fine layer of metal has been rolled, they are not taken through the background fabric but applied onto it. The couched threads are laid parrallel to each other and caught down by a small white cotton stitch. This work is common in Pashtun nomad embroideries. In this case though the metal has largely worn off the threads. The open edges of the cover have been bound in silk yarn. There are two buttons with cotton yarn loops with which to close the open edges of the cover. [MdeA 15/11/99]
Cultural groups
Pashtun
Person
Field collector Marina de Alarcón
Field collector Mark Axworthy
PRM source Marina de Alarcón
Date / Period
Date made: Circa 1930?, uncertain
Date collected
29 September 1999
Acquisition information
Purchased: 18/10/1999
Materials and processes
Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Silk Yarn Animal, Material Cotton Seed Fibre Yarn Plant, Material Silk Textile Animal, Material Metal, Process Stitched, Process Embroidered, Process Repaired (local), Process Woven
Dimensions
Length: max 1140 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1999.33.46
Research and responses

For further information on this type of embroidery see 'Afghan Embroidery' by Roland Paiva and Bernard Dupaigne published by Musée de L'Homme, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Fondation de France. [MdeA 16/11/99]

See also page 40 of the above publication for a photograph of an object showing the techniques and materials used in this object. [MdeA 16/11/99]

Search terms: Transport and Travel, Textile, Firearm Weapon, Bag, Firearm Accessory, Button, Holster