Made by
Showkat Ahmad Bhat
Papier-mâché and walnut wood · Zadibal, Srinagar, Kashmir · 22 years
Builds papier-mâché forms and carves walnut in the same two-room workshop.
Crewel Cushion Cover
Hook-embroidered crewel in wool on cotton, worked by hand in a Srinagar workroom.
₹3,40045 × 45 cm · cotton ground
Enquire about this pieceMade to order. We confirm timing and price by email before any payment.
This piece
Crewel is worked with an ari hook rather than a needle, wool laid on a stretched cotton ground in a continuous chain stitch. A cover takes about two days. Pattern is drawn from a chinar-leaf block, printed by hand before the embroidery begins.
Showkat works both crafts that Srinagar is known for indoors: sakhtsazi, the building of forms from paper pulp, and walnut carving. The painting on his boxes is done by a naqash with a squirrel-hair brush and ground pigment, then lacquered in four to six sanded layers. His walnut trays are cut from a single board and finished in oil so they can be re-oiled at home.
What's inside
- Weight
- 45 × 45 cm · cotton ground
- Lot record
- Issued when the lot is made
- Availability
- Short runs, spring 2027
Care & use
Air the piece rather than washing it. Fold with acid-free tissue and keep it dry and out of direct light; for pashmina, dry-clean only, and rarely. Hand-made work settles with use — small irregularities are the record of the hand that made it, not a fault.