Unknown Maker, Indian

This printed cotton hanging is a palampore, from the Hindi word palang-pos (bedspread or coverlet). Produced by southern Indian artisans, these densely patterned textiles were coveted trade goods around the globe in the late 1700s and early 1800s. This example, made for the Sri Lankan market, features a pair of birds perched on a rocky mound, gazing up at a sinuous flowering tree. The vibrant red patterning was made by a combination of painting and block-printing with mordants—a magical “invisible ink” that allows color to fix or bond with a fabric, appearing only after the fabric is washed.