Pearl Embroidery usually refers to a kind of sewing where pearls are used as sequins or spherical pearls. Sometimes, pearls are used alongside the tear-shaped or wheat-shaped pearls depending on the pattern. Iran had been always famous in the world for pearl hunting and trading and the abundance of the pearls in this country made it a good choice for using in art. That is why the pearl embroidery came into the existence. The existing documents show that this kind of embroidery had been well-known during the reign of Achaemenids. The most famous pearl embroidered Persian object is the fictional rug of Baharestan, belonging to Khosrow Parviz, which was discovered in 637 AD. This rug was like a brocade fabric with precious jewels, pearls and other decorations in the center of an elegant margin. The Sassanid flag filled out by pearls, the Kaaba curtain related to the 7th century HJ and many other existing objects indicate the long history of this art. 

Today, pearl embroidery is no longer carried out using the original pearls. Instead, some colorful artificial pearls in different shapes are used for this craft. Hormozgan, Isfahan, Kashan, Tehran, Tabriz, Qazvin and some other cities in Khuzestan are the main centers of producing these objects. Pearl is a solid body, spherical in shape, lustrous and relatively hard coming into existence within the shell of a pearl oyster or other bivalve mollusc. Marco Polo refers, in his itinerary, tothe overall popularity of this craft during the early Islamic centuries so that it was used for decorating the Kaaba curtain. According to him, this sewing became popular again alongside other kinds of embroidery crafts under Safavids. From the reign of Zand dynasty to the time of Fathali Shah, women used to put an elegant fine piece of fabric or lace on their head which was fastened to their headdress using some pearl strings. Pearl embroidery is usually used for adorning the cloth neck, bindle, the shoulders of the cloths, watch bag, moneybag, prayer rug, Quran bag, cushion, tablecloth, bag and so on.

This sewing tends to be used alongside other kinds of embroideries like Sermeh, cocoon, lace, sequin, glass beads and filigree embroidery, purl, inlay etc. The popular motives in pearl embroidery are vase flowers, different kinds of flowers, paisley, lines, human figures, animals, landscapes and flower and bird.