EMBROIDERIES OF INDIA / MIRROR WORK / TRIVIA

- Shisha embroidery can be traced back to Iran in the 17th century. It was brought to India during the Mughal Rule.

- This type of embroidery lends a sparkling appearance to the brightly colored clothes worn in the region, and is very popular for use on clothing, hangings, tapestries, and domestic textiles.

- One of the Mughal queens is said to have encouraged the art.

- It originally started with the decorating of fabrics through reflective metal pieces such as Mica, Tin or Silver.

- Over a period of time, the use of glass pieces came into use. Thin bubbles of glass were blown for this purpose and then broken into small pieces.

- Current times have machine made glass with silver coating on the back, cut into desired shapes and sizes, and readily available at shops for fabric ornamentation. The tradition of making circular shisha was extensively done by women in South Asia, who use special scissors that are repeatedly dampened to prevent flying shards, and snip them into smaller circular shapes.

- Sometimes Mica or hand-blown glass, are used as substitutes.