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Silk Length

ca. 1855 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Agra (made)

Lengths of silk such as this were categorised as 'piece goods', fabrics made to standard dimensions for sale. Piece goods could be used for a variety of purposes. Silk such as this length was often used to make or line garments.


Object details

Categories
Clothing
Textiles
Hats & Headwear
Parasol Foundation Trust Indian Textiles Cataloguing Project
India Museum
Object type
Silk Length
Materials and techniques
Woven silk
Silk (Textile)
Woven
Brief description
Yellow silk length, Agra, ca. 1855.
Physical description
Length of yellow silk with narrow red borders, cut
Dimensions
  • Of rolled object circumference: 28cm
  • Width: 29cm
Object history
Transferred from India Museum in 1879. Slip book entry 3155: 'Silk Piece / Agra / 1855 / Plain yellow - Narrow in Width / See F - Book 553 - 541'. Fragments of this length were included in John Forbes Watson's Textile Manufactures of India, Volume XIV, no.541.
Summary
Lengths of silk such as this were categorised as 'piece goods', fabrics made to standard dimensions for sale. Piece goods could be used for a variety of purposes. Silk such as this length was often used to make or line garments.
Bibliographic references
  • Bryant, Julius and Weber, Susan, John Lockwood Kipling: Arts and Crafts in the Punjab and London Newhaven: Yale University Press, 2017 p. 531, cat. 75
  • Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
  • Watson, J. Forbes, and Great Britain. India Office. The Textile Manufactures of India. India Office, 1866. 'Prov. No. 553 / No. 541 / India Fabrics / Silk Piece Goods / Yellow silk (Durreeaee). Very narrow. Length 20 yards 18 inches; width 11 1/2 inches. Weight 1lb 1/4 oz. Price 1l. 9s. 8 1/2d. From Agra; Bengal'.
Other number
3155 - India Museum Slip Book
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
7192(IS)

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O477685/silk-length-unknown/
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