A SAAMI QUILT
Dadu or Sehwan, Sindh, Pakistan, early 20th century

The bright red cotton ground quilted against the unbleached joined cotton backing in parallel lines of polychrome cotton thread, the concentric rectangular design in twisted cotton of varying colours, with couched highlights, 220cm x 168cm.

This style of embroidery is unique to the Saami Faquir snake charmer community. Snake charmers are not entertainers: they perform religious rituals in the interiors of Sindh that cross between Hindu and Sufi Muslim faiths.