The history of silk is one of the most fascinating chapters in human cultural history. China was the birthplace of sericulture, stimulating the development of silk trade on a continental scale. The enormous demand for this material gave rise to the phenomenon of the Great Silk Road, linking many nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

In the early Middle Ages, silk culture spread across Eurasia, primarily along the 40th parallel. Large sericulture areas developed in Sogdiana, ancient Iran, historical Armenia, and Byzantium. In the 17th century, Iran, through the mediation of Armenian merchants, became a leading player in the global silk trade.

In the Russian Empire under Peter the Great, Armenian entrepreneurs founded the first mulberry plantations and silk-weaving factories. In the mid-18th century, Moscow also became a silk-weaving center. As the empire expanded, the silk-growing regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and the Northern Black Sea region came within its economic sphere of interest.

The exhibits in the collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum are true masterpieces of applied art: robes made of renowned Chinese silk, the finest examples of Central Asian handicraft fabrics decorated using the technique of reserved dyeing of warp threads, luxurious silk carpets from Iran, airy kelagai scarves from the Southeast Caucasus, the famous gold-woven belts of the Slutsk manufactories, elegant accessories of Russian costume made from factory-made silk, and the richly embroidered silk clothing of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga region.

Silk fabrics have always been popular among the Russians. In the Middle Ages, various silks were typically imported from European and Asian countries. At that time, few could afford such fabrics; they were quite expensive, and even in the homes of wealthy families, they were uncommon, representing luxury and high social status. In the 18th and 19th centuries, domestically produced silk fabrics emerged and became widespread in Russia, produced in weaving factories located near major trading centers. They became popular among various social classes, but remained a clear indicator of material well-being, important rituals, and significant social and age status. Silk fabrics and threads were purchased at markets and bazaars, and in shops in large and small cities, and were used for sewing and decorating clothing and accessories, interior items, and ritual objects.

Silk in the culture of the Russians of the North anf Central Provinces

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a variety of silk fabrics, typically factory-produced in Russia, were found primarily in the sarafan (pink dress) ensembles of young and married women in the northern and central provinces of European Russia, the Urals, and Siberia. Silk was used to make shirts, sarafans, skirts, short bib-style garments with straps or sleeves, outerwear such as shugai (shougai), capes, fur coats, and caftans. Silk fabrics were also used to cover the base of headdresses and the bare surface of fur coats.

The presence of purchased fabrics, especially silk, in Russian women's clothing depended on the family's financial status and the ritualistic nature of the occasion in which it was worn. Often, in the attire of young women for major celebrations or in a wedding complex, almost all items of clothing were made of silk fabrics - silk, damask, lustrin, taffeta, satin, velvet, brocade, semi-brocade, etc., decorated with silk or braided ribbons.

Shawls, spreads

One of the most striking and noticeable items of a young woman's festive attire was the headscarf, which was attached to the headdress. Headscarves were quite large and were draped over the headdress so that the ends hung loosely, almost to the floor, often completely covering the woman's figure. In folk tradition, such headscarves were known as "plat," "kerchief," "shawl," "veil," "kanavat," and "fata." Kanavat, striped or checkered fabrics in shades of red with patterns of diamonds, rosettes of flowers, or bouquets made with metallic thread, were particularly popular. They resembled Eastern fabrics, but were made in Russian factories; the territory where kanavat were used was quite extensive.

Silk in the costume of the Cossacks of the Ciscaucasian steppes

In the southern part of European Russia, silk fabrics were most often found in the clothing of Don and Terek Cossack women. Their clothing, reminiscent of the attire of the North Caucasian peoples, consisted of a long silk shirt with sleeves that flared at the wrists and a fitted overdress. Special occasions, and sometimes everyday versions, were made of silk, damask, satin, taffeta, and damask.

Among the Cossacks of the Ciscaucasian steppes, domestically produced silk was generally used for clothing, although European and Asian silk-weaving fabrics were also found in these areas. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Terek Cossacks actively bred silkworms for home consumption and for sale. From silk threads produced on their own farms, Terek Cossack women wove belts, braiding, galloons, cords, and trimmings, which they used to decorate clothing.

China and Central Asia

As is well known, silk is one of the hallmarks of not only the material but also the spiritual culture of the Celestial Empire. The very history of the great Empire is unthinkable without silk and the traditions associated with it. These traditions originated in ancient times and date back to the Neolithic era (the earliest finds date back to the 5th millennium BC). In the 5th century BC, silk began to spread beyond China. Hunnic burials provide particularly rich material (textile fragments and fabric imprints on the patina of bronze vessels), attesting to the spread of silk in Central Asia. Elements of silk products have also been found in the burials of ancient Turkic and Golden Horde nobility. The most ancient archaeological samples of silk belong to such sensational archaeological sites as the Altai Pazyryk burial mounds of the Scythian period, associated with the Zhou era (11th–3rd centuries BC) in the Chinese periodization.

Since the 18th century, trade between the Chinese, Manchus, Japanese, and the people of the Siberian borderlands has been rapidly developing. The penetration of silk into the traditional culture of the indigenous peoples of Siberia in the later stages of history was largely facilitated by the development of diplomatic, trade, and economic relations between Russia and China (the Treaties of Nerchinsk (1689), Kyakhta (1727), Aigun (1858), Tianjin (1858), and Beijing (1860). In the 19th century, silk produced by Russian manufactories began to successfully compete with Chinese samples, and in some ethnic traditions, it became predominant.

Southern Siberia and Lower Volga

For many centuries, the peoples of the Turkic-Mongolian cultural circle (modern-day Mongols, Buryats, Kalmyks, Tuvans, Altai-Kizhi, Telengits, and Khakass) characteristically used Chinese silk for festive and prestigious clothing items, ceremonial horse harnesses, and interior decoration. Silk was used to sew individual garments for members of the elite and to cover sheepskin coats, the basis of traditional winter attire that guaranteed survival in the harsh climate of the extreme continental climate and nomadic lifestyle. Thanks to the development of trade, not only Chinese silk fabric but also finished products made from this material penetrated nomadic culture. Among the Khakass, polychrome embroidery in chain stitch and satin stitch became one of the national cultural symbols. Floral designs were the predominant type of ornamentation. The costumes of the indigenous peoples of Southern Siberia were characterized by decorative techniques such as colored piping and cording.

The costume of the Kalmyks, who brought the culture of the Western Mongols (the Oirats) to the steppes of the Lower Volga region, shows the influence of North Caucasian and Russian traditions. Like most nomadic peoples, the Kalmyks made clothing from imported fabrics, often silk. An interesting detail of married women's attire is the black braid covers, often made of satin silk.

Silk in Buddhist practices

Beyond everyday cultural uses, silk threads, cords, and fabrics, as well as brocade, were widely used in territories under China's influence to create elements of Buddhist clerical attire, decorate temple interiors, and create various Buddhist religious objects, attesting to the high, refined aesthetics and prestigious status of this material. For painted Buddhist images, created with mineral paints on primed canvas, the frame was traditionally made of silk or brocade; sometimes, silk served as the base of the work. Silk and brocade fabrics of various colors and textures, as well as silk threads, could be used as independent materials for creating Buddhist images using appliqué and embroidery techniques. It is impossible to imagine the culture of the peoples who professed northern Buddhism without hadaks – small pieces of silk in the primary colors of Buddhism (white, yellow, blue, green, and red), which were used not only in Buddhist religious practices, but also in situations of ritual gift exchange.

Silk in Far Eat peoples culture

Another region bordering China where silk fabric and silk embroidery became an integral part of the culture of the indigenous peoples was the Russian Far East. These included the Nanai, Ulchi, Udege, Uilta, Negidal, Oroch, Nivkh, and Ainu (the latter culture more often used Japanese-made silk). The traditional costumes of most of these ethnic groups are distinguished by their distinct complexity. In addition to East Asian-style robes, headdresses, and footwear, they wore trousers or natrazniks, leggings, stockings, armlets, mittens, bibs, detachable collars, shirts, sleeveless jackets, earflaps, aprons, belts, and various accessories. Although fish skin and animal hides were the earliest and most common clothing materials, any of these elements could be made with silk, often combined with other textiles, fur, suede, or bird skins, or richly decorated using quilting, mosaics, applied and cut appliqué, chain stitch and overlock embroidery, and raised double-sided satin stitch. Stencils made of birch bark, fish skin, or paper were used for embroidery. Interestingly, not only purchased threads were used for embroidery, but also Chinese fabrics were unraveled, and in their absence, Russian-made satin ribbons were used.

Of particular interest are Nanai bridal robes, whose front and back panels could be crafted in different styles. For example, the front panels were made using the appliqué technique in the form of dragon scales from bright, contrasting patches, while the back panel, made of a solid color, was embroidered with a paired, symmetrical traditional "tree of life" motif, featuring fish and amphibians at the bottom and birds hiding in the treetops at the top. The small, wingless birds symbolized the souls of unborn children.

Besides traditional dress, silk was used among the peoples of the Far East to make bedding, and since the 19th century, wall hangings decorated with intricate ornamental compositions have been transformed into true works of art worthy of museum collections by the efforts of craftswomen.

Silk in the Culture of the Uyghurs of East Turkestan (Xinjiang)

Sericulture has long held a prominent place in the culture of the Uyghurs—Turkic Muslims of East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The legendary Silk Princess, who secretly smuggled silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds from China, was the wife of the King of Khotan, one of the states in Xinjiang located along the Silk Road, which brought great profits to the cities there. In the modern era, political instability in Xinjiang hindered the development of sericulture. The region's incorporation into the Qing Empire (1875) facilitated the widespread use of Chinese silk fabrics in Uyghur culture. Women's dresses and sleeveless jackets were made from solid-color fabrics, the patterns of which were formed by varying the weave of the threads. The dominant motif of these fabrics was the stylized hieroglyph shou, meaning "longevity," which was used only on fabrics intended for women's wear.

Embroidery, created with the finest silk threads in a wide variety of colors, played a major role in the decoration of Uyghur clothing. Men's and women's formal robes were made of silk satin, which made the satin stitch embroidery look particularly striking. Even women's boots were decorated with embroidery.

Silk weaving of the Fergana oasis

Since ancient times, the Fergana Valley has been one of the largest centers of Eurasian silk weaving. It boasted excellent natural conditions for sericulture, and its location on the main Silk Road helped spark interest in this craft. At the beginning of the 20th century, silk weaving in the Fergana oasis included a variety of silk and semi-silk fabrics, including satin weave. Satin weaves were not produced in other silk-weaving centers of Central Asia.

A distinctive feature of Fergana's silk traditions was the production of a thin, lightweight fabric called durui, whose thread consisted of only four strands of silk. The raw silk for this fabric was not boiled, as was done for other fabrics, but the fabric itself. It was decorated using printed or knotted batik techniques. This technique was spread to the Fergana Valley by weavers who migrated from Merv, one of the Iranian centers of silk production. The duruya is most similar to the kelogai fabric, known in the North-Eastern Caucasus.

Silk of Bukhara and Samarkand

The oasis in the middle reaches of the Zerafshan River (now part of the Republic of Uzbekistan) was renowned for its silk fabrics as early as the mid-first millennium CE, when the region was known as Sogdiana. Elite silk-weaving traditions were preserved for centuries in the oasis's largest textile centers – Bukhara and Samarkand – where, as late as the early 20th century, artisanal silk fabrics of high quality and outstanding artistic merit continued to be produced. These included, first and foremost, ikat fabrics, known in Central Asia as abr, from the Arabic word "abr," meaning "cloud." They were decorated using a reserve dyeing process. Skilled artisans sequentially performed the following operations: applying the design outline to prepared warp threads, tightly wrapping individual sections of the warp with thread (reserve), and dyeing certain sections of the warp using a hot process, or, if necessary, a cold process. In Bukhara, this technique was used to decorate pure silk kanaus shoyi, semi-silk adras, and silk velvet bakhmal. Finished shoyi adras fabrics were polished to impart a special shine.

These fabrics were used to sew clothing for the ruling classes of Central Asian society, to decorate ceremonial horse harnesses, and more. In the Bukhara Emirate, cut-to-size silk cloths were included in diplomatic gifts and awards. Central Asian silks were popular among the region's nomadic population as prestigious items. Beyond Central Asia, ikats found a market among the Tatars of the Volga and Ural regions, as well as the Siberian Tatars. Stylized patterns of ikat fabrics were used in the ornamentation of textiles produced by Russian manufacturers.

Silk in the culture of the Khorezm oasis

In the Khorezm oasis—the oldest center of civilization in Central Asia—silk weaving using imported raw materials existed, but it was not very developed. However, the oasis's inhabitants always included items made from purchased silk in their festive attire. Madali—long, individually woven red silk cloths—were particularly prized. Each oasis people developed their own tradition of using them: Uzbek women of Northern Khorezm included this cloth in their turbans, men everywhere wore them around their waists, and young Karakalpak women draped them on their heads as turbans. According to some sources, madali were also made by the Turkmen tribes who inhabited the ancient agricultural oases in the Amu Darya basin, historically associated with Khorezm.

Silk weaving among the Turkmens

Sericulture and silk weaving among the Turkmen, a people with a nomadic culture, are a unique phenomenon in the Eurasian history of silk. The Teke Turkmen of the Ahal and Merv oases wove silk cloth not on a special loom, but on a narrow-beam loom, which had historically been used to produce woolen fabrics. Keteni, a dense, heavy red fabric with yellow stripes along the edges, was highly regarded and used for festive clothing. This fabric is currently a symbol of Turkmen culture, although since the mid-20th century, it has been manufactured in factories from viscose silk of various colors, and later even from synthetic fibers. In the 21st century, keteni for wedding wear is once again being made from silk.

Palace silk of the Shakh

Iran is a major center of silk production. The largest owner of mulberry fields and silk-weaving industries was the Shah of Iran, who also controlled all silk exports; high duties on the silk trade replenished the state treasury.

The pinnacle of Iranian silk weaving was the production of palace carpets with silk pile. The carpets' designs were distinguished by their complex, harmonious composition, and their patterns were particularly graceful.

Silk in Iranian Urban Culture

The flourishing of silk weaving in Iran was driven by the large-scale silk production in several provinces of the country, as well as the high domestic demand for silk and semi-silk fabrics. Silk weaving was an important segment of urban handicraft production. The artisans of Isfahan, Kashan, Yazd, and Rasht were particularly renowned, producing both expensive satin and velvet fabrics, as well as kanous, a relatively simple, inexpensive material.

In everyday life, city dwellers used silk fabrics to make sofa and bed covers, pillows, special dowry napkins, various cases, and handbags. Women's urban attire featured both fine cambric and high-quality, thick silk.

Silk in the culture of the peoples of the South-East Caucasus

In the Southeast Caucasus region, a significant part of which is occupied by the Kura-Araks and Caspian lowlands, sericulture reached its peak in the 15th century under the Shirvanshahs, a kingdom dependent on Safavid Iran.

In the 19th century, the Russian Empire, which incorporated this region, actively promoted the development of silk production. However, local residents continued to practice sericulture in the traditional way: women cultivated the cocoons, and men unwound them. Silk fabrics were produced primarily in urban workshops by male weavers.

Some of the silk products were consumed locally, while others were exported through wholesale trade and traveling merchants to other regions of the Caucasus, including the mountainous regions of the North Caucasus and Dagestan.

Silk in the culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus and Dagestan

The history of sericulture in the North Caucasus and Dagestan region in the 19th century particularly clearly demonstrates the dependence of this occupation on cultural and political factors. For example, in the first half of that century, silkworm breeding in Cossack villages was carried out at the initiative of the state, but at the same time, numerous local sericulture centers, rooted in traditional economic practices, existed throughout the region. However, the measured process of silkworm breeding was ill-suited to the militarized lifestyle of the mountain population of the North Caucasus, and from the mid-19th century, sericulture in the region declined.

The shortage of local silk products was compensated for by imported ones, which, within the strict normative culture characteristic of mountain societies, could not occupy a casual place in everyday life. Silk clothing was worn primarily by women, as a demonstration of their family status. The most luxurious sets of silk garments were reserved for girls of marriageable age.

Silk in the Culture of the Peoples of the Southwest Caucasus: The Byzantine Heritage

The traditions of silk production in the Black Sea region of the Southwest Caucasus, which included the historical regions of Armenia and Georgia, are inextricably linked to the great legacy of Byzantium, and this sericultural province can be considered part of Asia Minor. This is evidenced by the continued production of heavy brocade fabrics in certain textile centers of the region, such as Trebizond and Erzurum. Significantly, their patterns continued to be influenced by European influences into the modern era: the Baroque "French rose" became a leading motif.

The region's major cities—Kars, Batumi, Tiflis, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, and Ardvin—transported a variety of goods, including raw silk and silk fabrics. The domestic life of city women included various forms of decorative and applied arts. A common form of women's handicraft was silk embroidery, which was used primarily to decorate accessories and additional elements of women's clothing - bibs, belts, etc.

From ancient times until the first third of the 20th century, the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga and Ural regions, as well as the Chuvash, widely wore clothing made from homespun fabrics. Shirts, robes, scarves, women's bibs, belt pendants, and headdresses were made from white homespun canvas and decorated with counted-stitch and painted embroidery. Silk threads often played a leading role here, the luster and iridescent colors of which formed the basis of the artistic design of the embroidered compositions. Many items were often additionally trimmed along the edges with tassels or fringe made of silk threads. Natural dyes were used to dye silk until the end of the 19th century, and artificial ones from the end of the 19th century onward.

Rich and festive elements of costumes were often decorated along the seams and hems with silk braid and ribbons, either home-dyed or purchased ready-made at fairs and from traveling vendors. They were used primarily for bibs, headbands, and outerwear trim. Trimming with stripes became especially popular in the late 19th century, when checkered patterns and factory-made materials replaced white canvas in clothing.

The Tatars and Bashkirs had known about a variety of silk fabrics since the Middle Ages. It was an expensive commodity that reached the region via trade routes from the Middle East and Central Asia. While Shariah discouraged men from wearing silk, there were no such restrictions for women. Silk clothing has always been a symbol of social class among women, both urban and rural. In the 18th to early 20th centuries, wealthy Tatar women's attire could consist of almost their entire costume made from a variety of silk fabrics, from brocade to gauze.

Silk threads were particularly popular among the general population, used for embroidering clothing and interior decorations such as towels, curtains, and prayer rugs. Silk ribbons and braids, as well as braided materials, were used to decorate breastplates, sashes, the hems of women's dresses, headdresses, and outerwear.

In the mid-19th century, a fashion emerged among Tatars for hand-made Central Asian semi-silk fabrics, primarily striped bekasab and abr ​​edres. Striped fabrics were primarily used for men's robes, while abr materials were used for trousers and outerwear, and were used to trim breastplates and women's headdresses, including those of the Kryashen Tatars. At the beginning of the 20th century, this trend disappeared due to the general urbanization of the traditional culture of the Tatars and Bashkirs.

Silk materials became increasingly accessible to the population of the entire region in the second half of the 19th century, due to the development of the textile industry in Russia.

At this time, factory-made silk scarves and shawls became widespread among all the peoples of the Volga and Ural regions. For example, by the beginning of the 20th century, the most popular element of the Tatar and Bashkir women's festive costume was the openwork shawl knitted from silk jersey threads.

Satin and velvet became the most common fabrics for Tatar vests. Men's and women's headdresses—skullcaps and kalfaks—also began to be made primarily of velvet.

The Komi-Izhem women's festive costume demonstrates the most extensive use of silk fabrics. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it often included a shirt and a sarafan, partially or completely made from purchased silk fabrics produced in Russian factories.

Slutsk иelt

In the second half of the 18th century, the Slutsk belt was part of the ceremonial attire of the Polish aristocracy, emphasizing the owner's status and wealth. The belt received its name from its place of manufacture in Slutsk. Its appearance was driven by the European fashion of the 17th and 18th centuries for oriental silk belts, imported primarily by Armenian merchants from Iran and the Ottoman Empire. Demand for silk belts steadily increased, spurring their production in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the 1750s, Prince Mikhail Radziwill invited the Armenian craftsman Jan Madzharsky, who organized the belt-making process, resulting in the development of the type of belt known today as the "Slutsk belt."

The length of the Slutsk belt could vary from 2 to 4.5 meters, and the width was 20 to 40 cm. For the wealthiest customers, belts were woven double-sided or quadrilateral, meaning they had no backing.

With the annexation of part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Russian Empire, Slutsk belts fell out of use, and their production began to decline. However, in the 19th century, collectors began to take an interest in them as art objects: Slutsk belts were acquired for personal collections, from where they often later found their way into museum collections.