Re: Differences in henna designs
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on January 30, 2000 at 17:32:23:
In Reply to: Differences in henna designs posted by red_523 on January 29, 2000 at 04:10:27:
: May I ask what are the differences between indian, arab, persian,
: syrian, pakistani & moroccan henna designs?
Depends on what century you're asking about and whether it's urban or
rural .... that's a bit of a large question.
The short answer is that when ladies have had little money to spend
and less free time, henna patterns are very simple and are mostly
fingertip dips, lines and dots. When ladies put time and money and
skill into personal adornment , henna patterns frequently mirror the
decorative arts of the time and place. Medieval Arabic and Persian
henna had a beautiful period of calligraphy and complex patterns.
Contemporary Indian and Pakistani henna parallel textile patterns and
are often specifically done to complement a bridal outfit. Older,
rural patterns often have "household magic" patterns in them, and
different localities and tribes have their favorites. Khamsa and such
are favored in Arabia. Patterns derived from Tanit, fertility,
anti-evil-eye and such are often in Moroccan henna. Again ... to a
great extent the patterns use the same visual vocabulary as the other
traditional arts women practice: tattooing, embroidery, weaving,
sometimes pottery and rangoli.
If you do the "Friends of Henna thing at the top of the page, you'll
get a bundle of patterns that include all of the above. Also, if you
can do zipfiles, and email me, you can get a bundle of free patterns
that cover 16 countries.