Textile
ca. 1850 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Richly coloured printed and painted cotton textiles such as this were made in a variety of sizes, from bed covers to small coverlets. Pieces of this size would be used as multi-purpose coverlets and furnishings. Their format often recalls that of an Iranian carpet, with a central medallion and corner motifs.
Materials & Making
The designs on this cotton cloth were achieved by a combination of printing with wooden blocks and hand-painting with a tool called a kalam (Persian for 'pen'), giving this type of textile the generic name of kalamkari ('pen work'). The blue would be the product of immersion in an indigo vat, while the red areas would first be treated with an alum mordant to make the red dye fast.
Trading
Kalamkari textiles were especially popular in Iran, where they were imported in vast quantities from the Masulipatam area of south-east India. Kalamkari workshops were also set up in Iran itself, notably in Isfahan, to satisfy the local market, and it is frequently very difficult to tell the products of the two centres apart.
Richly coloured printed and painted cotton textiles such as this were made in a variety of sizes, from bed covers to small coverlets. Pieces of this size would be used as multi-purpose coverlets and furnishings. Their format often recalls that of an Iranian carpet, with a central medallion and corner motifs.
Materials & Making
The designs on this cotton cloth were achieved by a combination of printing with wooden blocks and hand-painting with a tool called a kalam (Persian for 'pen'), giving this type of textile the generic name of kalamkari ('pen work'). The blue would be the product of immersion in an indigo vat, while the red areas would first be treated with an alum mordant to make the red dye fast.
Trading
Kalamkari textiles were especially popular in Iran, where they were imported in vast quantities from the Masulipatam area of south-east India. Kalamkari workshops were also set up in Iran itself, notably in Isfahan, to satisfy the local market, and it is frequently very difficult to tell the products of the two centres apart.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Cotton, block-printed, painted, resist- and mordant-dyed |
| Brief description | Coverlet |
| Physical description | Cotton Coverlet , printed with a central square floral motif in cream and floral and mango repetitive border patterns in blue and red. Machlipatnam, Andra Pradesh, mid 19th century. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Object history | Made in Machlipatnam (formerly Masulipatam), Andhra Pradesh, south-east India |
| Summary | Object Type Richly coloured printed and painted cotton textiles such as this were made in a variety of sizes, from bed covers to small coverlets. Pieces of this size would be used as multi-purpose coverlets and furnishings. Their format often recalls that of an Iranian carpet, with a central medallion and corner motifs. Materials & Making The designs on this cotton cloth were achieved by a combination of printing with wooden blocks and hand-painting with a tool called a kalam (Persian for 'pen'), giving this type of textile the generic name of kalamkari ('pen work'). The blue would be the product of immersion in an indigo vat, while the red areas would first be treated with an alum mordant to make the red dye fast. Trading Kalamkari textiles were especially popular in Iran, where they were imported in vast quantities from the Masulipatam area of south-east India. Kalamkari workshops were also set up in Iran itself, notably in Isfahan, to satisfy the local market, and it is frequently very difficult to tell the products of the two centres apart. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 5443(IS) |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | September 23, 2002 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
