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Indian, India Coromandel Coast

Mat (kalamkari), late 1700s

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Indian

Title

Mat (kalamkari)

Year

late 1700s

Medium

Cotton plain weave, block printed and hand painted

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • cotton

Techniques

  • plain weave,
  • quilting,
  • painted,
  • mordant dyed

Dimensions

Length: 135.3 cm (53 1/4 inches)

Place

India; Coromandel Coast

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

37.006

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

“Insnared with flowers, I fall on grass"

June 10, 2014 - March 8, 2015

Reminiscent of a Persian carpet design, this cotton mat is organized around an ornate central medallion, corner segments, and framing borders. This formal arrangement is offset by playful creatures—monkeys and birds—inhabiting the swirling foliage of exotic flowers. Highly skilled artisans working in several stages produced this kalamkari chintz, or cotton cloth painted and printed in many colors using a brush (kalam), patterned woodblock stamps, and mordant dyes. For centuries, Indian artisans held the secret to printing fine cotton fabric with colorfast dyes and enjoyed a monopoly on the export of such designs, produced according to the tastes of clientele spanning the globe

Indian Textiles from the RISD Collection

November 1, 1985

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Mat (kalamkari) with the accession number of 37.006. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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