Image
Indian or Portuguese, Portugal
Description
Maker
Culture
Title
Year
Medium
Materials/Techniques
-
Materials
Techniques
Dimensions
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Length: 271.8 cm (107 inches)
Signature / Inscription / Marks
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On back, sewn to lining: Tag reading: Ministerio da Educacao Nacional; Inv. no. 31 c.v.
Place
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Portugal
Type
Credit
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Jesse Metcalf Fund
Object Number
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1996.99
About
After Portugal established a colonial trade center in Goa, India, in the early 1500s, it was flooded with imported Indian luxury textiles. Painstakingly embroidered with carnations and vines, this marriage quilt, or colcha, was either made in India for the Portuguese market or crafted in Portugal as a version of an Indian original. The makers substituted the carnation—a flower from the Mediterranean—for the lotus-blossom motif that would have been more familiar to Asian consumers.
Colcha were indispensable items for Portuguese brides of all social classes. Greatly elegant, this coverlet was made in silk instead of the more commonly used linen
On back, sewn to lining: Tag reading: Ministerio da Educacao Nacional; Inv. no. 31 c.v.