Man's tunic

NameTunic

CultureBakhtiari

Date1973-1975

Place madeDezful, Khuzestan, Iran, South Asia, Asia

MediumWool, cotton

Dimensions38 3/8 × 26 3/4 in. (97.5 × 68 cm)

Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, gift of Luba Staller, A.2015.34.1.

Object numberA.2015.34.1

ProvenanceCommissioned by donor from traditional vendors in the Bazaar in Dezful, Iran (Khuzestan area); Luba Staller grew up in Woodstock, NY. Because of her husband’s involvement in agriculture, she has lived most of her adult life in California. In 1973, they moved as a family (two daughters, one son) to Iran while he worked for an agricultural development bank. They stayed for two years in the town of Dezful (Khuzestan Province) and then two years in Tehran where she volunteered at the ethnological museum. While in Dezful, Luba spent a lot of time at the town’s bazaar where she bought a complete Bakhtiari man’s outfit, now offered to the museum.

DescriptionThis woven wool tunic of natural colored fibers consists of two parts machine sewn together. The weave is turned sideways; The lower portion has vertical narrow indigo stripes. The upper has the same plus under stripes of varying sizes in chest area and across back shoulder like piano keys. A teal cotton insert at the inside back back serves as a facing where the wool contacts the nape of the neck. The tunic is worn open like a vest.