Not currently on display at the V&A

Shoulder Cloth

ca. 1855 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Salem (made)
Tamil Nadu (made)

Complete shoulder cloth for a man (angavastram), white cotton field, side borders of red, white, black and orange silk, with a diaper pattern, end borders with horizontal bands of orange and red silk.


Object details

Categories
Clothing
Men's Clothes
Textiles
Parasol Foundation Trust Indian Textiles Cataloguing Project
India Museum
Object type
Shoulder cloth
Materials and techniques
Cotton and silk, woven
Cotton (Textile)
Silk (Textile)
Woven
Brief description
Man's shoulder cloth (angavastram) from a set (dhoti-angavastram), white cotton with red and white borders, Salem, Tamil Nadu, ca. 1855
Physical description
Complete shoulder cloth for a man (angavastram), white cotton field, side borders of red, white, black and orange silk, with a diaper pattern, end borders with horizontal bands of orange and red silk.
Dimensions
  • Length: 278cm
  • Width: 113cm
Marks and inscriptions
'Man's Garment/Madras/Book no. 281 53' (handwritten paper label attached to object)
Object history
Transferred from the India Museum in 1879. Originally part of a dhoti-angavastrum set. Swatches from the dhoti appear in John Forbes Watson's The Textile Manufactures of India, vol.II, No.53.
Subject depicted
Diaper
Bibliographic reference
Watson, J. Forbes, and Great Britain. India Office. The Textile Manufactures of India. India Office, 1866. 'INDIAN FABRICS. NO.53 / MAN'S GARMENT. / Cotton: good texture. / Two pieces in one length with "fag" between to permit of their being readily separate. The longer portion is worn round the body; the shorter one over the shoulders. / Length of longer portion 5 yards 9 inches; of shorter ditto 3 yards; total length 8 yards 9 inches; width 1 yard 9 inches; weight 1lb. 11oz.; price 8s. / From SALEM, MADRAS. Prov. No.281'
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
7781(IS)

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O455179/shoulder-cloth-unknown/
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