AN INDIAN SAFFRON-YELLOW BROCADE ANGARKHA (LONG-SLEEVED OUTER ROBE)
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE MUNICH COLLECTOR
Possibly Lucknow or Delhi, Northern India, 19th century

Cut similarly to a Mughal chogha (man's coat), the zari gold silk ground heavily brocaded in gilt metal thread wound around a silk core, with repeating rows of bold floral arrangements in European style, with long sleeves and shallow side openings, the back divided into three sections, the edges trimmed with a gilt braided tape of flattened metallic wire, lined in later-added yellow silk, the inner hems edged in modern metallic passementerie, 102cm from the nape.

In South Asia, angarkhas are long-sleeved knee-high upper garments made in various fabrics such as brocade, silk, velvet, or muslin, and worn mostly by men over pajamas. They can be plain or heavily embroidered, often worked in a Persian-inherited technique called zardozi, and decorated with buti or floral motifs. It has been suggested that their shape evolved from Persian capes, like balaba or chapan, and their prominence rose since the Mughals invaded and established themselves in India. However, some scholars are convinced that this silhouette existed in the Subcontinent much before the Islamic period, finding parallels in Mathura Kushan sculptures dating back to the 1st - 2nd centuries AD.