This hand-woven and block-printed tusser silk was commissioned by the store Liberty's of London in the late 1870s. It was exhibited in the British India Pavilion of the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878. The swirling design of stylised leaves and flowers is entitled 'Salangore'. It combines traditional Indian patterns with the Arts and Crafts enthusiasm for plant-inspired shapes. The design was achieved by block-printing in blue onto a neutral ground. One colour would need up to 25 impressions with a block to achieve the dense and even hues shown here.

The design was one of six Indian-inspired patterns shown together at the exhibition. Others included 'Tanjore Lotus', 'Allahabad Marigold' and 'Poonah Thistle'. The silks were woven in India, and printed by Thomas Wardle and Co. at their dyeworks in England.

Thomas Wardle was a leading manufacturer and dyer working in Leek, Staffordshire. He took over his father's dyeworks in the early 1870s, and went on to become one of the leading British textile manufacturers of the late 19th century. Wardle was recognised as an expert on the Indian silk industry. He first visited Bengal in 1885, and lectured widely on the importance of the tusser (or wild) silk of India. The textured, brown fibres of tusser silk were notoriously resistant to dye; Wardle successfully overcame this problem in the early 1870s by first bleaching the silk. He was a founding member of the Silk Society, and later knighted for his contribution to the industry.

An example of this pattern printed in green on yellow ground is also held by the Museum.