Cover thumbnail 1
Not on display

Cover

1800-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Resist dyed and block printed plain weave cotton, padded, backed with undecorated plain weave cotton, faced with bias-cut dark blue silk and quilted. Off-white silk thread has been used for most of the quilting but blue silk was used through the facing.
Colours: two shades of red, blue, brown, black.
The central decorative panel has an off-white ground with a central medallion consisting of eight lobed segments outlined in blue emerging from a central red multi-petalled flower head. Each segment contains a blue flowering stem. There is a diagonal cypress tree and vase in each corner with two pairs of birds. The rest of the ground is patterned with off-set bands of botehs and flowering stems.
There are four borders: the innermost is crowded with floral motifs; the main border has a floral meander with a blue stem and blossoms in red, brown and blue. The outer border is a repeat of the inner, and the outermost border has reciprocal trefoils in blue and white.
A narrow sleeve has been added on the back along the top and bottom, for display purposes.

Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
cotton yarn, silk thread, weaving, sewing, quilting, dyeing, resist dyeing, block printing, painting.
Brief description
printed cotton, 1800s, Indian
Physical description
Resist dyed and block printed plain weave cotton, padded, backed with undecorated plain weave cotton, faced with bias-cut dark blue silk and quilted. Off-white silk thread has been used for most of the quilting but blue silk was used through the facing.
Colours: two shades of red, blue, brown, black.
The central decorative panel has an off-white ground with a central medallion consisting of eight lobed segments outlined in blue emerging from a central red multi-petalled flower head. Each segment contains a blue flowering stem. There is a diagonal cypress tree and vase in each corner with two pairs of birds. The rest of the ground is patterned with off-set bands of botehs and flowering stems.
There are four borders: the innermost is crowded with floral motifs; the main border has a floral meander with a blue stem and blossoms in red, brown and blue. The outer border is a repeat of the inner, and the outermost border has reciprocal trefoils in blue and white.
A narrow sleeve has been added on the back along the top and bottom, for display purposes.
Dimensions
  • Length: 133.5cm
  • Width: 89cm
  • Centre decorative panel length: 89cm
Object history
Purchased for £1 from Debenham & Freebody, London. Original catalogue information says it was printed by Iranian craftsmen in Masulipatam, Madras, India for the Iranian market.
Production
Made by Iranian craftsmen in Machilipatnam, Madras, South India
Bibliographic reference
Published in 'Iranian Textiles' by Jennifer Wearden and Patricia L Baker (V&A Publishing, 2010) Plate 9 and detail of cotton backing in plate 103..
Collection
Accession number
657-1890

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Record createdApril 8, 2008
Record URL
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