It is almost popular in all rural areas of the province. While the coin embroidery become almost free of any kind of embroidery patterns, rural women and girls are still calling it embroidery. In addition to Baluchestan, this craft had also been popular in other cities of Iran. There is no precise date available on the beginning of coin embroidery, although we know that it was totally flourished during the Safavid era, based on what we can see in national and international museums. People used to use this craft for decorating their cloths, bed cloths, wall tableaus, the horse’s neck, hat and so on, in time of Safavids.
According to the travelers’ books and their accounts on the women cloths during this period, it can be figured out that women decorated their clothes with coins then. They used to wear a hat and there were some golden and silver and other precious coins stitched around the hat of the wealthy women. They used to present some loose socks woven of the wool or brocade as gift which had been decorated with precious stones. Men also wore an embroidered or brocaded turban which had been decorated with golden coins and precious stones.
Based on the museum objects remained from the 12th and 13th century Hijri, we know that this craft had been completely popular alongside the rest of the decorative embroidery and their main centers were Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari, however, it is now more carried out in Sistan and Baluchestan province.
The significant centers in this province include Ahuan, Chanf, Fanuj and Espakeh villages, belonging to the Iranshahr city. In Bampur, one of the environs of Iranshahr, people make some durable mat hand fans with some pieces of fabric decorated in colorful plastic sequins based on the method of coin embroidery. The main costumers of this products are the locals. The quality of coin embroidered products is mostly dependent on the raw material. Today, women in some other regions of the country adorn their cloths with the art of coin embroidery, but this craft is still restricted to the Baluch women.
Miniature Garden Museum
