The Collection

The story of this piece

Rukhsana couched the tilla across every inch of this ivory ground — a full surface of birds, flowers and vines in gold thread so fine it catches light from across a room. The birds are cranes and peacocks alternating, an old Kashmiri marriage motif.

A note on the hand. Rukhsana works aari — the hooked needle — and learned tilla from her aunt. She makes the chain-stitch work that travels around the borders of a stole, and the gold-thread bridal pieces that come out of our atelier in winter. She runs a small group of women in her neighbourhood who finish edges and ties.