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Shishedar Phulkari
A type of phulkari embellished with sheeshe (small, dull pieces of glass) that are stitched in patterns across the fabric, the shishedar phulkari acts as a nazarbuti for the wearer. While nazarbutis in other phulkaris are typically presented as interruptions in the embroidery pattern, the glass pieces in shishedar phulkaris are a way of incorporating the motif into the overall design.
Shishedar phulkari shawls and odhinis are typically embroidered with geometric patterns in white or yellow thread against a dark red or brown base. Like other phulkaris, the shishedar type originated in Punjab, before the Partition.
Today, it is most commonly made and worn in Haryana, particularly in Gurugram, Rohtak, Hisar and neighbouring New Delhi. Examples of older shishedar phulkaris can be found in several private and museum collections, most notably the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Bibliography
Kiron, Mazharul Islam. “Phulkari Embroidery: Origin, Types and Techniques.” Textile Learner, June 24, 2015. https://textilelearner.net/phulkari-embroidery-origin-types-and-techniques/.
Lal, Krishna. Phulkari: From the Realm of Women’s Creativity: A Tradition of Handmade Embroidery of Punjab and Haryana: Selected Pieces from the Archives of IGNCA. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 2013.
Mason, Darielle, and Cristin McKnight Sethi. Phulkari: The Embroidered Textiles of Punjab from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2017.
Reen, Sandeep. “A Review On Phulkari Embroidery Of Punjab.” International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences Vol 2, no 11 (November, 2012): 60-69.