By Brinda Bose
Of all contemporary embroidery forms, mirror-work is rated as the most charming, trendy and popular, both in urban and rural India. Its twinkling patterns have come to adorn a variety of items of daily utility – from back-less blouses and bed spreads to wall hangings, shoes, lampshades and upholstery.

Clearly, its association with the nomadic tribes of Rajasthan and Gujarat is a thing of the past. Nor is its production restricted to the bored women of Kutch, who filled the idle hours of afternoons working on the trousseaus of their adolescent daughters.
Today, mirror-work is taught everywhere – in art schools, fashion clinics, polytechnics, government craft institutes and tribal rehabilitation centres. The art has also become more sophisticated and refined, as it is no longer confined to repetitive animal and floral patterns.
Says Madhu Rathore, a fashion designer who had produced an exclusive mirror-work collection with a non-governmental organisation, Srunjan: “The art has gone truly international. Its beauty lies in the intricate embroidery. If you look carefully, you will notice an array of stitches, one more beautiful than the other.”
The most common is ari, or chain stitch, which is executed with a cobbler’s needle and used to mark outlines. Filling is usually done with banni, the most intricate form using five strands of thread with which mirrors are sealed to the fabric.
Then there’s the soof thread work, which is so fine that it almost merges with the weave of the fabric. “Though the soof tradition originated in Gujarat, most of it is now produced by the women of Barmer, in Rajasthan,” informs Suraj Mal, an artisan who works for a government emporium.
Another popular style is pako, which is a heavier version of the chain stitch and is exclusive to Rajput Sodhas. Kambira is another stitch, associated with the Muslim and Harijan communities. It is a form of running stitch that helps in creating basic geometric patterns on the fabric.
Then there’s the ahir, developed by the farming community of Gujarat and is executed in two stages. The pattern is first outlined with a chain stitch (sankli) and then filled in by another, called vana. By cleverly matching different colours of thread, a three-dimensional effect is created.
Anju Chotrani, another designer who specialises in mirror-work, points out that while Rajasthani designs usually have figures of elephants, peacocks and parrots, Andhra embroiders tend to work on block printed fabrics with geometric and floral patterns.  Artisans from Kutch make a combination of all the motifs.
“The designs apart, Kutchi mirror-work is finer than Rajasthani embroidery with an emphasis on detailing and intricacy,” explains Madhu Rathore who retails the work through the Gujarat emporium network. “Here the stitches are dainty and designs, more complicated.”
Advent of technology and changing designer perceptions have led to creation of modern designs that bear little resemblance with the traditional. Yet, Rathore insists that “while styles and designs have undergone tremendous change, the structural nature of patterns has remained the same.”   
The colour palette has also evolved from the traditional orange, red, deep green, blue and black to the rather contemporary purples, beiges, greys and whites. “The colours change according to the season and the market demand,” comments Shanta Devi, an artisan-turned-embroidery supplier.
At times, fully-embroidered pieces are dipped in tea liquor to create a dated look. This is quite common with wall hangings, bed spreads, shoes and artefacts that are passed on to overseas tourists as antique items. Another common practice is rubbing the pieces on sand and ripping open a few mirrors for the same effect.
“After all, this is a 300-year-old craft tradition,” explains Shanta Devi. “Every foreigner wants to take a slice of Indian history back home, little realising that they can be easily cheated. Even among us, it is hard for the most experienced of artisans to make out the difference between a fake and a genuine piece!” (MF)