Not currently on display at the V&A

Jacket

late 18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A tailor in Sumatra made this man’s jacket (‘baju’) from cotton cloth produced on India’s Coromandel Coast. It has been shortened, probably after damage. The floral design in red, yellow and blue has been strongly influenced by European fashion of the period 1750-1800.

The style of the jacket belongs to the Malay world. Here its introduction may be linked to the spread of Islam and the influence of Arabic and Indian modes of dress. The popularity of the ‘baju’, worn with trousers rather than with a traditional skirt-cloth, represented a radical change in dress etiquette in Islamic south-east Asia.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cotton, painted mordant-dyed, resist-dyed, and painted
Brief description
Baju, jacket (shortened, probably after damage), tailored from Coromandel Coast cloth in Sumatra, late 18th century, cotton, painted mordant-dyed, resist-dyed, and painted, width 151cm.
Physical description
Jacket (shortened, probably after damage), cotton, painted mordant-dyed, resist-dyed, and painted. Flowers in red, yellow and blue.
Dimensions
  • Width: 151cm
Credit line
Purchased with Art Fund support
Subject depicted
Summary
A tailor in Sumatra made this man’s jacket (‘baju’) from cotton cloth produced on India’s Coromandel Coast. It has been shortened, probably after damage. The floral design in red, yellow and blue has been strongly influenced by European fashion of the period 1750-1800.

The style of the jacket belongs to the Malay world. Here its introduction may be linked to the spread of Islam and the influence of Arabic and Indian modes of dress. The popularity of the ‘baju’, worn with trousers rather than with a traditional skirt-cloth, represented a radical change in dress etiquette in Islamic south-east Asia.
Bibliographic reference
John Guy, Woven Cargoes. Indian Textiles in the East, Thames and Hudson, 1998, pl. 81.
Collection
Accession number
IS.101-1993

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Record createdMarch 17, 2000
Record URL
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