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Bodice

ca. 1871 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Europe (made)

Choli or woman's jacket. white muslin printed with large violets, piped with red cotton and trimmed with a band of gold-wrapped thread.

Object details

Categories
Textiles
Clothing
Womenswear
Parasol Foundation Trust Indian Textiles Cataloguing Project
India Museum
Object type
Bodice
Materials and techniques
Cotton, woven and printed, gold-wrapped thread
Cotton (Textile)
Gold-Wrapped Thread
Woven
Printed
Brief description
Textile, printed cotton jacket or bodice, probably made in Europe for the South Asian market, ca. 1855-1879.
Physical description
Choli or woman's jacket. white muslin printed with large violets, piped with red cotton and trimmed with a band of gold-wrapped thread.
Dimensions
  • Neck to hem length: 90cm
  • Wrist to wrist, across shoulders width: 25cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • '
  • 'INDIA no 584b/Bombay./Division II.-MANUFACTURES, Class 8.-/COTTON&COTTON FABRICS./Name of fabric/ 'Kutori Choley (or Multani) from B'bay/Material of which it is made/\English cloth and ornamentation gold/Exhibitors Name/Government of Bombay/ Address/Reasons for/Exhibition/to illustrate the different uses of cotton/Price at place of production Rs 3-8-0/ Price in London./REMARKS,&c./(For further infomation, see Catalogue' Reverse: No. 603 (3006 "Kutoree Cholee;) gold border. Bombay. (printed and handwritten paper label, attached to object)
Gallery label
(03/10/2015 - 10/01/2016)
CHOLI (BODICE)

A choli is worn with a sari or skirt (ghaghra). This fabric was mill-made and industrially printed in England, but was exported to western India, where it was tailored into a local garment. The pattern and mauve colour are not characteristic of Indian textiles. They may have been intended to appeal to an Indian market seeking the prestige of dressing in 'exotic' European cloth. Exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1872, it was an example of what could be achieved with English fabric.

Cotton and gold-wrapped thread
Woven in England, tailored in western India, about 1871
V&A: 8250 (IS)
Object history
Transferred from India Museum 1879.
Historical context
Intended for use as a garment, clothing.
Bibliographic reference
Ashmore, Sonia. "Muslin", London, V&A Publishing, 2012. p. 78 and 120-21, pl. 52
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
8250(IS)

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O481017/bodice-unknown/
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