This dazzling antique Silk Uzbek is a marvelous example of this decorative, wildly popular dyeing and weaving technique, which is enjoying a modern resurgence. Using carefully dyed threads, weavers created a spectacular silk textile with a large-scale Tree of Life design that emphasizes the beautiful visual effects of this Uzbek handcraft. The superb composition has well-developed features and formal borders that display vertical stripes and marbled zigzag accents. Within the central compartment, vibrant adzuki reds and celadon greens bring the symbolic, slow-growing cypress to life while secondary accents function as fertile ground and form an arching mihrab-like niche. The feathered ikat outlines and muted tones have an ethereal watercolor effect produced by the penetration of dyes and distribution of color that occurs as the pre-dyed threads are skillfully woven together.