Zardozi Metal Thread Embroidery
Gold and silver wire, coils and spangles couched into fabric on a frame — the metal-thread embroidery of the courts.
Zardozi is India's principal metal-thread embroidery — raised, dense work in which gold- and silver-coloured wire, coiled purl (dabka, salma), spangles (sitara), beads and stones are couched and stitched onto fabric stretched drum-tight on a wooden frame. It is worked into bridal lehengas and sarees, sherwanis and achkans, saree and dupatta borders, potli bags, shoe uppers, caps, ceremonial umbrellas, and wall panels, canopies and furnishings. It ranges from flat couched line to heavily padded karchobi relief, and Lucknow's zardozi, often combined with chikankari, is GI-tagged.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Also Known As
Zardozi, zar-dozi ('gold embroidery'), karchobi, kalabattu work; Lucknawi and Farrukhabadi zardozi
Craft Type
Raised metal-thread hand embroidery
Practising Community
Largely Muslim karigar households, with a very large number of home-based women and men doing piece-rate work
Materials
Base fabrics of velvet, silk, georgette, net and satin; metallic zari (kalabattu) thread; dabka, salma, kora, gijai and nakshi purl and wire; sitara spangles, pearls, beads and cut-glass stones; and cotton padding thread.
Known For
Zardozi on bridal lehengas, sherwanis, saree borders, dupattas, bags, shoe uppers, wall panels and furnishings, in floral, paisley and border designs
Where It's Made
Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Bareilly and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh; Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Agra, Ajmer and Chennai; Kolkata
Time to Create
Days to many weeks per garment or panel, by density
GI Status
Lucknow Zardozi is a registered GI of Uttar Pradesh; the craft as a whole is not registered
Process Steps
Framing the fabric
The base cloth is laced taut onto a rectangular wooden adda frame so it stays drum-tight while worked.
Transferring the design
A perforated paper stencil is dusted with chalk or ink to print the motif onto the stretched fabric.
Laying the padding
For raised areas, cotton or soft thread is stitched down first as padding so the metalwork will stand proud.
Couching the zari
Continuous metallic thread is laid on the surface following the design and tacked down from below with fine stitches.
Adding purl and wire work
Dabka, salma, kora and gijai are cut to length and sewn on like beads to fill and outline the motifs.
Setting spangles and stones
Sitara spangles, pearls, beads and cut-glass stones are stitched in to catch the light within and around the design.
Finishing and making up
Thread ends are fastened on the reverse, the piece is taken off the frame, pressed, and cut and stitched into a garment or panel.
Technique Glossary
Adda
The wooden frame on which fabric is stretched drum-tight for zardozi work.
Aari
A fine hooked awl used to make rapid chain stitches and to couch thread from below the frame.
Dabka
A tightly coiled fine metal spring cut into short lengths and stitched down like a bead.
Salma / sitara
Salma is a fine metal purl or coil; sitara is a small metal spangle, the two often used together.
Karchobi
Heavy raised zardozi worked over a thick cotton padding, used for borders, canopies and formal costume.
Kalabattu
The metallic thread itself — gilded wire wound over a silk or cotton core.
Couching
Fixing a thread that lies on the surface by tacking it down at intervals with a finer thread.
Kora and gijai
Matte purl and stiff springy wire used for textured lines, stalks and raised outlines.
A Craft Through Time
Ancient
Gold-thread work in early India
Metal-thread embroidery is referred to in Vedic-era and later sources as a mark of luxury and status.
Mughal era
The court's embroidery
Zardozi covers Mughal robes, tents, canopies, trappings and regalia, and workshops flourish under imperial patronage.
18th–19th century
Into the nawabi towns
After the empire's decline the craft concentrates in Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Bareilly, Rampur, Hyderabad and Bhopal as a hereditary trade.
20th century
A home-based industry
Zardozi scales up as a piece-rate cottage industry supplying wedding wear, fashion, furnishing and export.
21st century
GI and machine competition
Lucknow Zardozi is registered as a GI, while computerised embroidery imitates hand zardozi cheaply.
Present
The metalwork of ceremony
Zardozi remains the embroidery of Indian weddings and formal wear, worked by a vast, mostly low-paid, hand workforce.
Did You Know?
The gold in old zardozi was real — historic pieces used gilded silver wire, and worn-out gold-embroidered garments were burned by refiners to reclaim the precious metal from the ash.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.