Chintz Hanging
first quarter 18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This fragment is from a set of bed hangings. It is made of chintz, a generic term for the hand-painted cotton fabrics that were imported in large quantities into Britain and The Netherlands during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Design & Designing
The imaginary, hybrid floral designs characteristic of chintz fabrics of the early 18th century are the product of a complex interaction of trade between India, Europe and East Asia. The demands of different markets for 'exotic' goods led to combinations of elements from English embroidery, Islamic floral designs and Chinese ceramics, among other things, all interpreted by the Indian cotton painter. Little distinction was originally made between Indian and Chinese designs, and contemporary writers often refer to Indian furnishings as Chinese, and vice versa.
Materials & Making
Chintz is a term for a series of complex techniques involving the use of mordants - salts used for fixing the dye in the fabric - and resists - inpermeable substances such as wax, that prevent the fabric from being dyed in certain area according to the design. These techniques are particularly associated with coastal south-east India (the so-called 'Coromandel Coast') because of the particularly favourable combination of chemicals in the local soil, water and dye- plants.
This fragment is from a set of bed hangings. It is made of chintz, a generic term for the hand-painted cotton fabrics that were imported in large quantities into Britain and The Netherlands during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Design & Designing
The imaginary, hybrid floral designs characteristic of chintz fabrics of the early 18th century are the product of a complex interaction of trade between India, Europe and East Asia. The demands of different markets for 'exotic' goods led to combinations of elements from English embroidery, Islamic floral designs and Chinese ceramics, among other things, all interpreted by the Indian cotton painter. Little distinction was originally made between Indian and Chinese designs, and contemporary writers often refer to Indian furnishings as Chinese, and vice versa.
Materials & Making
Chintz is a term for a series of complex techniques involving the use of mordants - salts used for fixing the dye in the fabric - and resists - inpermeable substances such as wax, that prevent the fabric from being dyed in certain area according to the design. These techniques are particularly associated with coastal south-east India (the so-called 'Coromandel Coast') because of the particularly favourable combination of chemicals in the local soil, water and dye- plants.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 12 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Painted and dyed cotton chintz, and sewn with gimp braid |
| Brief description | Twelve fragments of hangings for a bed in painted and dyed cotton chintz, Coromandel Coast, first quarter of 18th century |
| Physical description | Twelve fragments of hangings for a bed in painted and dyed cotton chintz. With black and white gimp braid sewn over some of the seams. The main pattern, before it was unstitched, consisted of hills from which rises a tree bearing a variety of large flowers and leaves, and two vases of smaller flowers. The upper part of the tree was repeated reversed, and in the upper half of the coverlet. The surface enriched by delicate floral motives. The ground in white. The applied bottom border had a design of winged boys amid trees and buildings, and a winding stream, in shades of red and blue with touches of white. |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
LEEK EMBROIDERY
And its Indian source
'Leek embroidery' was a technique of embroidering over ready-printed panels manufactured at Leek in Staffordshire. Skilled embroiderers with a good sense of design could create highly original embroideries that were far from straight copies of the printed ground. This design draws on a variety of styles but its chief models must have been hand-drawn and dyed chintzes made in southern India a century earlier, like the one shown here. |
| Credit line | Purchased from M. Sylvaine[?] Gleiges, 24 Avenue Gambetta Courbevoie, Seine, France |
| Object history | Museum numbers IM.49-1919 to IM.56-1919 purchased for £20.19s (840 francs). Purchased from M. Sylvaine[?] Gleiges, 24 Avenue Gambetta Courbevoie, Seine, France. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project. R.P. 1919-5353 and R.P. 1919-4459 |
| Summary | Object Type This fragment is from a set of bed hangings. It is made of chintz, a generic term for the hand-painted cotton fabrics that were imported in large quantities into Britain and The Netherlands during the 17th and 18th centuries. Design & Designing The imaginary, hybrid floral designs characteristic of chintz fabrics of the early 18th century are the product of a complex interaction of trade between India, Europe and East Asia. The demands of different markets for 'exotic' goods led to combinations of elements from English embroidery, Islamic floral designs and Chinese ceramics, among other things, all interpreted by the Indian cotton painter. Little distinction was originally made between Indian and Chinese designs, and contemporary writers often refer to Indian furnishings as Chinese, and vice versa. Materials & Making Chintz is a term for a series of complex techniques involving the use of mordants - salts used for fixing the dye in the fabric - and resists - inpermeable substances such as wax, that prevent the fabric from being dyed in certain area according to the design. These techniques are particularly associated with coastal south-east India (the so-called 'Coromandel Coast') because of the particularly favourable combination of chemicals in the local soil, water and dye- plants. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.50 to E, G, I&J, L, N&O-1919 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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