The Collection

The story of this piece

An old shikargah pattern — the hunting ground — with foxes in full sprint, birds of prey stooping, and horses in the garden. The gold thread carries the animals; the flowers are in ivory and saffron. A traditional men's motif that has always worked equally well on women.

A note on the hand. Shameema works sozni — the finest needlework Kashmir produces. She prefers walnut-dyed thread and works only in daylight, beside a window that faces east. Her father was a copyist of Quranic manuscripts; she says she inherited the steady hand, not the calligraphy.