Surface Ornamentation, Embellishment and Traditional Embroidery
What this domain tests
Recognition of ornamentation techniques, the hand stitches used, and the regional traditional embroideries - Punjab's phulkari and bagh are high-probability content in a PSEB paper.
Techniques to know
- Hand embroidery stitches: running, back, stem, chain, satin, lazy daisy, cross, feather, blanket.
- Machine routes: free-motion embroidery, computerised multi-head embroidery, sequin and cording devices.
- Applied surfaces: appliqué, patchwork, quilting, shisha (mirror) work, bead and sequin work.
- Printing and dyeing: block, screen, digital printing; tie-dye, batik, bandhani.
Traditional embroideries
- Phulkari (Punjab): floss silk thread on handspun khaddar, darn stitch worked from the reverse, geometric and natural motifs, no knots; the reverse side is almost as neat as the front.
- Bagh (Punjab): the fully covered form of phulkari, where the embroidery conceals the ground fabric; bagh means garden.
- Chikankari (Lucknow): white-on-white shadow work on muslin.
- Kantha (Bengal): running-stitch quilting on layered saris.
- Kasuti (Karnataka) and zardosi (metallic thread) complete the usual list.
Worked example
A question shows a shawl with scattered geometric silk motifs on a coarse cotton ground and a plain reverse. Reasoning: floss silk on khaddar, darn stitch, motifs not covering the ground → phulkari, not bagh. If the motifs covered the entire field so no ground showed, it would be bagh. Details: no knots, worked from the back, geometric forms.
Traps that cost marks
- Swapping phulkari and bagh; coverage is the discriminator.
- Describing phulkari as a printed or woven design.
- Mixing regional names - chikankari is not Punjabi.
- Forgetting that shisha work uses mirrors held by interlaced stitches.