Ceremonial Cloth thumbnail 1
Not on display

Ceremonial Cloth

late 19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Varanasi (made)

Ceremonial waist or shoulder cloth (Pha yok) in brocaded silk with gold. Gold on a red ground. With a diagonal trellis pattern. The chevron pattern dividing the different bands of the border. Flower grid pattern in the centre field.

Object details

Categories
Textiles
Ceremonial Objects
Clothing
Object type
Ceremonial cloth
Materials and techniques
Brocaded silk with gold
Silk (Textile)
Brocade
Brief description
Ceremonial waist or shoulder cloth (Pha yok) in brocaded silk with gold, probably made in Varanasi, North India, late 19th century
Physical description
Ceremonial waist or shoulder cloth (Pha yok) in brocaded silk with gold. Gold on a red ground. With a diagonal trellis pattern. The chevron pattern dividing the different bands of the border. Flower grid pattern in the centre field.
Dimensions
  • Length: 270cm
  • Width: 81cm
  • Diameter: 85mm
Gallery label
(03/10/2015-10/01/2016)
THAI MARKET

In the early 16th century, Portuguese traders noted Indian textiles made 'in the fashion of Siam' (Thailand). Most of these fabrics were finely drawn and dyed cottons from the Coromandel Coast. They drew on the distinctive Thai style with its intricate lattices and borders. The two ceremonial garments here would have been worn at court. Ordinary people wore less finely printed cottons, as the merchant's samples indicate.

Skirt-cloth
Cotton, hand-drawn and etred
Coromandel Coast, 1750-1800
V&A: IS.40-1991

Shoulder-cloth
Silk with metal-wrapped silk thread
Ahmedabad or Surat, Gujarat, 1850-80
V&A: IS. 3S-1987

Merchant's samples of block-printed cotton
Vasna, Gujarat, 1869
V&A: 1707 (IS)
Production
Probably made in Varanasi for the Thai market.
Subject depicted
Floral
Bibliographic reference
Guy, J. "Woven Cargoes. Indian Textiles in the East", London, 1998 p. 147, pl. 200 (detail)
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.35-1987

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Record createdJune 21, 2000
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O40715/ceremonial-cloth-unknown/
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