Textile thumbnail 1
Textile thumbnail 2
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Not on display

This object consists of 3 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Textile

ca. 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Varanasi (made)

Kincob, an anglicised term of uncertain origin, is a rich silk fabric with patterns woven in a weft thread of gold and silver-wrapped thread (zari). It is made by wrapping gold or silver wire around a silk core (kalabuttu zari). Kincob was usually sold by weight. Varanasi (Benares), an important centre of fine weaving from ancient times, developed as a silk weaving centre during the Mughal period. The net or trellis pattern (jali, trellis or net)used in this piece was copied in Britain by design 'reformers' such as William Morris and Owen Jones and usually referred to as a 'diaper' pattern.

Object details

Categories
Textiles
Parasol Foundation Trust Indian Textiles Cataloguing Project
Object type
Textile
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Textile
  • Textile
  • Textile
Materials and techniques
Woven silk, gold-wrapped and silver-wrapped thread brocade
Silk
Weaving
Brief description
Textile, woven silk, gold-wrapped, silver-wrapped and silk thread brocade, Varanasi, ca. 1850
Physical description
Woven silk with gold ground and diaper design in gold-wrapped and silver-wrapped thread and black and red silk threads, containing flower heads.
Dimensions
  • 752 a 1852 diameter: 85mm
  • 752 b 1852 diameter: 80mm
Gallery label
(03/10/2015-10/01/2016)
GOLD AND SILVER BROCADED SILKS

Very few Indian textile-makers’ names are recorded, even when their works are collected for their supreme skill. The embroidered inscriptions on these pieces are a rare exception. The Persian script records that they are ‘the workmanship of Baks [Bakhsh] Miyan, resident of Kamalpura, for Mu’in Lal, resident of Gaighat’. These valuable gold and silver brocades (known as kamkhwab or kincob) were displayed in London at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Silk woven with gilded silver and silver-wrapped thread, embroidered with metal-wrapped silk thread
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, about 1850
V&A: 752A&B-1852
Object history
This piece was purchased from the 1851 Exhibition for £ 32.10s (£ 32.50) and was described as 'Kinkhob Jhaldar' in the 1852 Inventory.
Historical context
This textile was one of several illustrated in Owen Jones's book, The Grammar of Ornament, (London, 1856).
Subject depicted
Flower
Summary
Kincob, an anglicised term of uncertain origin, is a rich silk fabric with patterns woven in a weft thread of gold and silver-wrapped thread (zari). It is made by wrapping gold or silver wire around a silk core (kalabuttu zari). Kincob was usually sold by weight. Varanasi (Benares), an important centre of fine weaving from ancient times, developed as a silk weaving centre during the Mughal period. The net or trellis pattern (jali, trellis or net)used in this piece was copied in Britain by design 'reformers' such as William Morris and Owen Jones and usually referred to as a 'diaper' pattern.
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
752-1852

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Record createdJuly 28, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O164420/textile-unknown/
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