Bed Hanging thumbnail 1
Bed Hanging thumbnail 2
+5
images
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Bed Hanging

1st quarter 18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Coromandel Coast (made)

Bed hanging of painted and dyed cotton chintz with a floral design on a pink ground. A tree is growing from a rockery, beneath which there is a lotus pond with crabs and fishes, against a speckled red ground. The trunk and branches are patterned with a vermicelli meander. The flowers are fanciful and there are small fruits and nuts, and two chinoiserie birds. There are lotus plants in the foreground.

Object details

Categories
Textiles
Interiors
Object type
Bed hanging
Materials and techniques
Painted and dyed cotton chintz
Cotton
Painted
Brief description
Bed hanging of painted and dyed cotton chintz, Coromandel Coast, 1st quarter of 18th century
Physical description
Bed hanging of painted and dyed cotton chintz with a floral design on a pink ground. A tree is growing from a rockery, beneath which there is a lotus pond with crabs and fishes, against a speckled red ground. The trunk and branches are patterned with a vermicelli meander. The flowers are fanciful and there are small fruits and nuts, and two chinoiserie birds. There are lotus plants in the foreground.
Dimensions
  • Height: 317cm
  • Width: 112.5cm
  • Height: 124in
  • Width: 44.5in
  • Height: 3210mm (Note: Measured by Conservation for Europe 1600-1800)
  • Width: 1165mm (Note: Measured by Conservation for Europe 1600-1800)
Gallery label
(09.12.2015)
Bed-hanging
1700-25

Indian craftsmen made vast quantities of painted and dyed cottons for the European market in the 17th and 18th centuries. This one was made in southeast India, where Portuguese, Dutch and English merchants had trading stations. Numerous variations survive of this design of a flowering tree. Red and pink grounds were popular with the Dutch.

India (Coromandel Coast)

Cotton, painted and dyed (chintz)

Given by J.B. Fowler
Credit line
Given by J. B. Fowler
Production
Made for the Dutch market.
Subject depicted
Floral Pattern
Bibliographic references
  • Swallow, Deborah and John Guy eds. Arts of India: 1550-1900. text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : V&A Publications, 1990. 240 p., ill. ISBN 1851770224, p.165, pl.142.
  • Irwin, John and Katherine Brett, Origins of Chintz, London, 1970. With a catalogue of Indo-European cotton-paintings in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ISBN 112900534. p. 91, cat. no. pl. 60.
  • Crill, Rosemary, Arts of Asia, vol. 45, no. 5, September - October 2015, "The Fabric of India" Exhibition, p.68, pl. 2.
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.2-1967

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16051/bed-hanging-unknown/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest