Sheila Paine (29 September 1929–March 2022) was an English expert on Islamic embroidery. She was known for her travel books including The Afghan Amulet, describing her efforts to find the "linen goddess", an embroidered motif found from Greece to central Asia, and the origins of an elaborately embroidered "Kohistan" dress she had seen in a dealer's shop in London. Her work was exhibited at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
Sheila Paine was born on 29 September 1929 in Balham to Barbara Sykes and the quantity surveyor Edgar Thorpe. She was educated at Nonsuch Grammar School and London's Lycée Français. She did a foundation course at Hammersmith College of Art. She then broke off her education, travelling to South Africa to work as a translator and meeting Leslie Paine. They returned to England, married in 1953, and had four children. She resumed her education at Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University), eventually becoming a teacher of modern languages there. She began to collect English samplers, her first venture into the study of textiles.[1]
Travels in search of embroidery
Paine travelled throughout central Asia, visiting places such as Mazar-i-Sharif, with its historic blue mosque.
Leslie Paine was killed on Turkish Airlines Flight 981 when it crashed near Paris in 1974. Remaking her life, Sheila Paine began to travel to "the remotest of places"[1] such as the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram Mountains, Eritrea, Somalia, Iran, or Siberia. She habitually travelled with 5 kilograms of baggage and a bottle of vodka; to save weight, she went so far as to cut the handles of her toothbrushes in half. She returned from each trip with carefully-labelled pieces of Islamic and other embroidery.[1][2]
In the late 1980s, she saw a richly-embroidered dress in a textile dealer's shop in London. It was described as coming from 'Kohistan' ("Land of the mountains"), which could have been a place in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, or Tajikistan. It was decorated with embroidered suns, coins, broken zip-fasteners, a triangular amulet of pieces of shell and beads, and no fewer than 647 triangles of cloth sewn on to the skirt's frill. Fascinated, she decided to discover where the dress had come from and what the embroidered symbols, especially the amulet, meant.[3]
Many of her journeys were in search of the "linen goddess", a female figure who appears in embroidered textiles from the Greek islands to the Himalayas. These resulted in her trilogy of travel books, The Afghan Amulet in 1994, The Golden Horde in 1997, and The Linen Goddess in 2003.[1][4] Coming to the attention of museum authorities in charge of textile collections, she wrote books for the British Museum on textiles from India and from Pakistan.[5][1] An exhibition of her photographs of her textile journeys, Embroidered Visions: Photographs of Central Asia and the Middle East by Sheila Paine, was held at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, from November 2016 to April 2017. This was accompanied by an illustrated guide Embroidered Visions: Photographs by Sheila Paine, written by Paine, Katherine Clough, and Philip N. Grover.[6] An exhibition of textiles from her journeys, Stitch of a Symbol, was held at the Pitt Rivers Museum from August 2016 to February 2017.[3]
She stopped travelling at the age of 80, when she fractured her back. Unable to find an institution to buy her textile collection, she sold it at auction at Dreweatts in 2008. The British Museum acquired some of the pieces.[7][1][5] She died aged 92 in March 2022.[1][8][9]
^"Embroidered Visions: Photographs of Central Asia and the Middle East by Sheila Paine". Pitt Rivers Museum. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^For example, "The Sheila Paine Textile Collection: Lot 105: A collection of embroidered items from Ghazni, to". Dreweatts 1759. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^Richard, Sue (14 March 2022). "From India to Indonesia, Denmark to Turkmenistan and much, much more..." Oxford Asian Textile Group. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^Bannister, Matthew (3 April 2022). "Last Word: Madeleine Albright (pictured), Peter Padfield, Christina Smith, Sheila Paine". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
External links
42 objects acquired from Sheila Payne in the British Museum collection
August 22, 2023
sheila, paine, september, 1929, march, 2022, english, expert, islamic, embroidery, known, travel, books, including, afghan, amulet, describing, efforts, find, linen, goddess, embroidered, motif, found, from, greece, central, asia, origins, elaborately, embroid. Sheila Paine 29 September 1929 March 2022 was an English expert on Islamic embroidery She was known for her travel books including The Afghan Amulet describing her efforts to find the linen goddess an embroidered motif found from Greece to central Asia and the origins of an elaborately embroidered Kohistan dress she had seen in a dealer s shop in London Her work was exhibited at the Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford Sheila PaineIn 2005 wearing Uzbek and Turkoman textilesBorn 1929 09 29 29 September 1929DiedMarch 2022 2022 03 00 aged 92 OccupationTravel writerKnown forEmbroidered textile expertNotable workThe Afghan Amulet Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 Travels in search of embroidery 2 Works 3 References 4 External linksBiography EditEarly life Edit Sheila Paine was born on 29 September 1929 in Balham to Barbara Sykes and the quantity surveyor Edgar Thorpe She was educated at Nonsuch Grammar School and London s Lycee Francais She did a foundation course at Hammersmith College of Art She then broke off her education travelling to South Africa to work as a translator and meeting Leslie Paine They returned to England married in 1953 and had four children She resumed her education at Oxford Polytechnic now Oxford Brookes University eventually becoming a teacher of modern languages there She began to collect English samplers her first venture into the study of textiles 1 Travels in search of embroidery Edit Paine travelled throughout central Asia visiting places such as Mazar i Sharif with its historic blue mosque Leslie Paine was killed on Turkish Airlines Flight 981 when it crashed near Paris in 1974 Remaking her life Sheila Paine began to travel to the remotest of places 1 such as the Hindu Kush the Karakoram Mountains Eritrea Somalia Iran or Siberia She habitually travelled with 5 kilograms of baggage and a bottle of vodka to save weight she went so far as to cut the handles of her toothbrushes in half She returned from each trip with carefully labelled pieces of Islamic and other embroidery 1 2 In the late 1980s she saw a richly embroidered dress in a textile dealer s shop in London It was described as coming from Kohistan Land of the mountains which could have been a place in Afghanistan Iran Pakistan or Tajikistan It was decorated with embroidered suns coins broken zip fasteners a triangular amulet of pieces of shell and beads and no fewer than 647 triangles of cloth sewn on to the skirt s frill Fascinated she decided to discover where the dress had come from and what the embroidered symbols especially the amulet meant 3 Many of her journeys were in search of the linen goddess a female figure who appears in embroidered textiles from the Greek islands to the Himalayas These resulted in her trilogy of travel books The Afghan Amulet in 1994 The Golden Horde in 1997 and The Linen Goddess in 2003 1 4 Coming to the attention of museum authorities in charge of textile collections she wrote books for the British Museum on textiles from India and from Pakistan 5 1 An exhibition of her photographs of her textile journeys Embroidered Visions Photographs of Central Asia and the Middle East by Sheila Paine was held at the Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford from November 2016 to April 2017 This was accompanied by an illustrated guide Embroidered Visions Photographs by Sheila Paine written by Paine Katherine Clough and Philip N Grover 6 An exhibition of textiles from her journeys Stitch of a Symbol was held at the Pitt Rivers Museum from August 2016 to February 2017 3 She stopped travelling at the age of 80 when she fractured her back Unable to find an institution to buy her textile collection she sold it at auction at Dreweatts in 2008 The British Museum acquired some of the pieces 7 1 5 She died aged 92 in March 2022 1 8 9 Works EditPaine Sheila 1989 Chikan Embroidery the floral whitework of India Shire Publications ISBN 0 7478 0009 X 1995 1990 Embroidered Textiles Traditional Patterns from Five Continents Thames amp Hudson ISBN 978 0 500 27823 9 1995 1994 The Afghan Amulet travels from the Hindu Kush to Razgrad Penguin Books ISBN 978 0 14 017930 9 OCLC 60121423 2004 Amulets a world of secret powers charms and magic London Thames amp Hudson ISBN 978 0 500 28510 7 OCLC 56645600 References Edit a b c d e f g Fielding Nick 27 March 2022 Sheila Paine obituary The Guardian Retrieved 5 April 2022 A life richly woven with discovery and design The Daily Telegraph 15 March 2004 Retrieved 10 June 2022 a b Stitch of a Symbol Insights into the Textile Journeys of Sheila Paine Pitt Rivers Museum Retrieved 10 June 2022 Sheila Paine Simon amp Schuster Retrieved 10 June 2022 a b Sheila Paine British Museum Retrieved 10 June 2022 Embroidered Visions Photographs of Central Asia and the Middle East by Sheila Paine Pitt Rivers Museum Retrieved 10 June 2022 For example The Sheila Paine Textile Collection Lot 105 A collection of embroidered items from Ghazni to Dreweatts 1759 Retrieved 10 June 2022 Richard Sue 14 March 2022 From India to Indonesia Denmark to Turkmenistan and much much more Oxford Asian Textile Group Retrieved 10 June 2022 Bannister Matthew 3 April 2022 Last Word Madeleine Albright pictured Peter Padfield Christina Smith Sheila Paine BBC Radio 4 Retrieved 10 June 2022 External links Edit42 objects acquired from Sheila Payne in the British Museum collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sheila Paine amp oldid 1134012918, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
