Textile Fragment thumbnail 1
Textile Fragment thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Textile Fragment

mid 17th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The repeating design on this elegant fragment of cotton cloth was produced by the same techniques (hand-drawn outline with resist-dyed and mordant-dyed colours) used for the chintzes made on the Coromandel Coast of South-East India and exported to Europe from the 17th-century onwards. This piece, however, was made for local use, probably at the court of Golconda or one of the other Deccani sultanates. Fabrics such as this could have been used for garments or furnishings, and a large section of a floorspread survives (in the Philadelphia Museum of Art) which uses this fabric as its outer border. The Philadelphia piece is significant because it bears ink stock-taking inscriptions on its reverse which state that the floorspread was in use by 1689, and this date can be used as a guide to dating this fragment too from that period .


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Textile Fragment
  • Textile Fragment
Materials and techniques
Cotton, drawn and painted resist and mordants, dyed
Brief description
Fragment from a floor spead, mordant- and resist-dyed, South-East India, mid 17th century; Textiles
Physical description
Rectangular fragment of cotton cloth. Undyed ground with a repeating design of rows of staggered flowering plants in red, green, yellow and aubergine. The design is hand-drawn and resist- and mordant-dyed.
Dimensions
  • Length: 433mm
  • Width: 270mm
Style
Gallery label
  • FRAGMENT FROM A FLOORSPREAD; Cotton, stencilled, painted and dyed, Deccan, probably Golconda, mid 17th century. FRAGMENT FROM A FLOORSPREAD Cotton, stencilled, painted and dyed South-East India Mid 17th century Circ.344:A-1932 Given by Prof. K. de B. Codrington(27/9/2013)
  • FRAGMENT FROM A FLOORSPREAD Cotton, stencilled, painted and dyed South-East India Mid 17th century Circ.344:A-1932 Given by Prof. K. de B. Codrington
Credit line
Given by Professor K.de B. Codrington
Object history
Given by K de B Codrington, former Keeper of the Indian Department at the V&A.
Production
Probably made on the Coromandel Coast (perhaps at Petaboli) for use at the Golconda or other Deccani courts. A floorspread using the same fabric is inscribed with the date 1689.
Summary
The repeating design on this elegant fragment of cotton cloth was produced by the same techniques (hand-drawn outline with resist-dyed and mordant-dyed colours) used for the chintzes made on the Coromandel Coast of South-East India and exported to Europe from the 17th-century onwards. This piece, however, was made for local use, probably at the court of Golconda or one of the other Deccani sultanates. Fabrics such as this could have been used for garments or furnishings, and a large section of a floorspread survives (in the Philadelphia Museum of Art) which uses this fabric as its outer border. The Philadelphia piece is significant because it bears ink stock-taking inscriptions on its reverse which state that the floorspread was in use by 1689, and this date can be used as a guide to dating this fragment too from that period .
Associated object
IM.58-1933 (Design)
Bibliographic references
  • Guy, John and Swallow, Deborah (eds.) Arts of India: 1550-1900. Text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1990, reprinted 1999. 240 p. : ill. ISBN: 1851770224. p.121, pl.99
  • Skelton, Robert, et al, The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982 p.89, cat.227
Collection
Accession number
Circ.344&A-1932

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Record createdApril 24, 2008
Record URL
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