Crafts, Handlooms, Art, Monographs
Chikan Embroidery of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Nanda, Gulshan
May, 2019
Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh, was and still is the centre of Chikan embroidery, renowned for its gossamer delicacy and timeless grace, a skill more than 200 years old - exploited, commercialised but not dead; in fact wonderfully alive and struggling to regain some of its former beauty and elegance.
Chikan embroidery is done on fine cotton fabric, the design of which is printed with wooden blocks in fugitive colours, which are commonly made by mixing a glue and indigo with water. The garments are first stitched and then embroidered, whereas skirts, saris, and table linen are first embroidered and then finished.
Craft Tradition
A study of the origin of Chikan reveals that this form of embroidery is supposed to have come to India from Persia with Noor Jehan - the queen of the Mughal emperor, Jehangir. The word 'chikan' is a derivative of the Persian word 'chikaan', meaning drapery. However, opinions vary. Some insist that the craft migrated from Bengal. What we know is that chikankari came to the erstwhile Oudh, now Lucknow, when Mughal power declined. The artisans moved to the Oudh durbars seeking employment and patronage.The craft flourished under the benign nawabi influence. The ladies of the harem vied with each other in making white embroidered caps for the nawabs in order to be noticed and favoured. The early garments were so fragile that they had to be dis...
A study of the origin of Chikan reveals that this form of embroidery is supposed to have come to India from Persia with Noor Jehan - the queen of the Mughal emperor, Jehangir. The word 'chikan' is a derivative of the Persian word 'chikaan', meaning drapery. However, opinions vary. Some insist that the craft migrated from Bengal. What we know is that chikankari came to the erstwhile Oudh, now Lucknow, when Mughal power declined. The artisans moved to the Oudh durbars seeking employment and patronage.The craft flourished under the benign nawabi influence. The ladies of the harem vied with each other in making white embroidered caps for the nawabs in order to be noticed and favoured. The early garments were so fragile that they had to be dis...
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