Black & Red Vintage Uzbek Suzani Wall Hanging – Large Roundel

A vintage suzani on a black cotton ground, dominated by one large roundel: a ring of red stylised flowers on a white scalloped disc, set in the centre of the cloth. Quarter-roundels of the same red-and-white flowers sit in the four corners, a cream vine scrolls between them, and the whole field is closed by a red-and-white striped border. It is a bold, graphic piece — three colours, one big shape — and it reads from across a room.

The embroidery is silk thread on cotton, worked by hand in Uzbekistan in the Soviet period (roughly 1960s–90s), which is what “vintage” means on our site: nothing we sell is an antique, because Uzbekistan does not permit the export of textiles over fifty years old. Expect the saturated aniline red of the period and the small irregularities of hand work — the stitch travelling on the reverse, slight differences in density between one flower and the next. The listing photographs show the piece as it is.

Product details

• Product type: vintage suzani, wall hanging or table cover
• Origin: Uzbekistan
• Period: Soviet-era, vintage (not antique)
• Technique: hand embroidery, silk thread on cotton ground
• Dimensions: 140 × 160 cm (55 × 63 in)
• Main colours: black ground; red; white/cream
• Motif: single large floral roundel with corner quarter-roundels; striped border
• Condition: vintage, as photographed
• Care: dry-clean, or gentle hand wash at 30 °C, dry flat in the shade, iron on the reverse; never machine wash

Character and use

At 140 × 160 cm it is a wall piece for a bed head, a hallway or above a sofa, hung from a sleeve or clips along the top edge, and it works equally well thrown over a round table where the roundel sits in the centre. Black-ground suzanis of this type were made as household hangings, so the format is exactly what it was for. See Large Suzani for other pieces over 2 m², and what symbols are hidden in suzani for the roundel motif.

Ships from Bukhara by Uzbekiston Pochtasi tracked airmail: USA 9–18 working days, Europe and the UK 8–16.