Kohistani Embroidery

Bottom panel of a woman’s shawl from Kohistan in the North West Frontier Region of Pakistan. Black cotton with polychrome floss silk embroidery executed in counted stitch technique. The decorative motifs include abstracted ram’s horns, snowflakes and flowers.

Rest of the typically large rectangular shawl and the dress it covers is similarly decorated with embroidery and in more recent cases embellished with key chains, buttons, zippers and other utilitarian items used for decorative purposes.