Textile

Object Type
This fragment is from a painted cotton hanging or bed cover known as a 'palampore', an anglicised term from the Persian palangposh, or bed cover. 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 unreal, 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 Little distinction was originally made between Indian and Chinese designs, and contemporary writers often refer to Indian furnishings as Chinese, and vice versa.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.