Qanat thumbnail 1
Qanat thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Qanat

late 18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Burhanpur (made)

Qanat, coverlet, hanging or prayer mat of painted and dyed cotton chintz. Depicting a slender flowering-tree set within a conventional mihrab and grows from a scale like hillock with lotus-petals at its base. There is a wide floral border across the top and narrow borders down the sides and along the bottom. All have the same floral-meander guard-borders.

Object details

Category
Textiles
Object type
Qanat
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Qanat
  • Lining
Materials and techniques
Painted and dyed cotton chintz
Cotton (Textile)
Painted
Brief description
Qanat, hanging or prayer mat of painted and dyed cotton chintz, Burhanpur, North Deccan, late 18th century
Physical description
Qanat, coverlet, hanging or prayer mat of painted and dyed cotton chintz. Depicting a slender flowering-tree set within a conventional mihrab and grows from a scale like hillock with lotus-petals at its base. There is a wide floral border across the top and narrow borders down the sides and along the bottom. All have the same floral-meander guard-borders.
Dimensions
  • Width: 107cm (Note: Measured before conservation)
  • Height: 192cm (Note: Measured before conservation)
  • Length: 75in
  • Width: 42in
  • Maximum width width: 1085mm (Note: Measured after conservation, textile having grown slightly, as edges were unfolded and flattened)
  • Maximum height height: 1940mm (Note: Measured after conservation - textile having grown slightly as edges were unfolded and flattened)
Object history
Formerly in the collection of G.P. Baker

This type of design, with its hybrid mixture of European, Islamic and Hindu elements, seems to have emerged in the late eighteen century, when the Western chintz market was declining and the Persian market was reviving. The V&A has another piece, almost identical, except that it lacks the lotus base (IS.128-1950).
Bibliographic references
  • Exhibited: International Exhibition fo Persian Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1931, cat. no. 373
  • 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. 90, cat. no.59, pl. 57
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.51-1952

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O472238/qanat-unknown/
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