Beautiful Antique Protective Banjara Embroidery Panel

This beautiful antique embroidered Banjara panel is a protective headpiece that would have been attached to a head ring on which its owner balances a pot of water.   Headpieces shield the back of the neck from the sun, and are created to showcase embroidery skill, protect the owner from harm, and channel auspicious powers.

The Banjara are an ethnic group of semi-nomadic tribes of north Indian origin.  They are renowned for their exquisite hand embroidered and colorful textiles embellished with cowrie shells, mirrors, coins, and metal beads. 

This beautiful panel is hand embroidered with naturally dyed cotton and fine woollen threads on hand-loomed cloth.  The overall condition is excellent and consistent with age and use. It is missing a single cowrie shell which could be easily and cheaply sourced online and replaced.

This stunning piece is from my own private collection sourced in Rajasthan, India, in the 1980s.  It would ideally be framed and displayed individually or with others on a wall.  

Antique examples of this fine quality and condition are now very hard to find.