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Choli

c.1830-40 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Lucknow (made)
Avadh (made)

Acquired by the India Museum as the dress of the 'Queen of Oudh', this extravagant Lucknavi ensemble is more likely to have been designed for a young girl's betrothal ceremony or possibly a for wear by a court dancer. It was received by the India Museum via the Paris Exhibition of 1855, and it is possible the ensemble was made especially for the display. However, the style of the ensemble corresponds with Lucknavi fashions of the 1830s-1840s, which suggests the outfit may be of an earlier date.

Object details

Categories
Clothing
Textiles
Womenswear
India Museum
Court
Object type
Choli
Materials and techniques
Woven silk, and cotton net, embroidered with gold and silver threads and metal details
Net
Silk (Textile)
Gold Thread
Silver Thread
Metal
Woven
Embroidered
Brief description
Woman's bodice (choli), red silk muslin embellished with applied gold and silver ornament, Lucknow, Avadh, c.1830-40
Physical description
Woman's bodice, purple silk and red silk patterned cotton net, heavily embellished with ribbons of gold and silver thread, partly pleated and embossed, and gold tinsel and spangles.
Dimensions
  • Length: 11cm
  • Including ties width: 112cm
Gallery label
(Nehru Gallery, 2001)
WOMAN'S COURT COSTUME: Silk with gold and silver braid and pompoms. Lucknow, C.1830-40. This extravagant costume would have been worn by a dancer or noblewoman at the flamboyant Lucknow Court, although the fashion for exaggeratedly wide trousers like these worn under a full, shorter overdress was popular in several centres of North India during the first half of the 19th century. Women wearing such costumes are shown in the large Lucknow painitngs on the back wall of this case and in the smaller Company style paintings from North India in the unit to the right.
Object history
Transferred from the India Museum in 1879. India Museum Slip book entry 8216: 'Costume as worn by the Queen of Oudh / Lucknow / 55 / Robe Bodice & Cholee / Trowsers & Shawl / Shoes having Bells on attached / Gold Turban flat Top.'
Historical context
Intended for use as a garment, clothing.
Summary
Acquired by the India Museum as the dress of the 'Queen of Oudh', this extravagant Lucknavi ensemble is more likely to have been designed for a young girl's betrothal ceremony or possibly a for wear by a court dancer. It was received by the India Museum via the Paris Exhibition of 1855, and it is possible the ensemble was made especially for the display. However, the style of the ensemble corresponds with Lucknavi fashions of the 1830s-1840s, which suggests the outfit may be of an earlier date.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Ritu Kumar, Costumes and Textiles of Royal India, London, Christies, 1999, pp. 249-53.
  • India's fabled city : the art of courtly Lucknow / Stephen Markel with Tushara Bindu Gude ; and contributions by Muzaffar Alam ... [et al.]. Munich ;London: Prestel, Johann Gottlieb, c2010 Number: 9783791350752 (hbk.), 3791350757 (hbk.) cat. no. 190, p. 231.
Other number
8216 - India Museum Slip Book
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
5833(IS)

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O475966/choli-unknown/
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