Performance

[Detail: 19th-century Lakai suzani from Rippon-Boswell's Vok sale.]

[Details: 19th-century Lakai suzani on deep blue ground, also from Vok Collection.] 

It's festival season, but it's also auction season.

If you've been following my textile news coverage on Instagram and Tumblr during the past month, you may have noticed quite a few suzanis coming up for sale. (Coincidentally, these antique embroideries often have a psychedelic vibe that happens to mesh well with the festival aesthetic.) One of the best performing suzanis to date is an 18th-century Uzbek piece distinguished by massive meandering vines and a palette of ochre, pink and orange with soft blues and greens.

[Details: 18th-century Uzbek suzani from Rippon-Boswell's Vok Collection sale.]

As reported by Daniel Shaffer for Hali, this embroidery just sold for more than double the auction estimate. Full story here.

A more modestly priced find is Merchant & Mills' Shallot.

Gauzy and light, with a hand-blocked motif in deep blue over an off-white criss-crossing background, it's one of many Rajasthani cottons offered by the British fabric purveyor.