Fragment
| Accession number | BZ.1933.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Indian subcontinent,
second half of the 10th–15th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. 30.5 cm × W. 37.5 cm (12 × 14 3/4 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Cotton; block-printed; possibly painted |
| Acquisition history |
Tano Collection, Cairo; Robert Woods and Mildred Barnes Bliss, purchase (through Frances Morris), 1932; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, 1940. |
Materials
Warp: Cotton, single spun Z-direction, 14–16/cm. No selvage is visible.
Weft: Cotton, single spun Z-direction, 15–16/cm
Colors: Undyed cotton (yellowed with age and mordants), brick red, indigo blue, brown
Technique
Plain weave; block-printed with mordant and dyed brown; block-printed with resist and dyed red; blue may have been applied onto fabric
Condition
Some small areas have been worn out. Slightly frayed edges may have been cut and neatened by the dealer.
Conservation history
Stabilized and stitched to framed backing fabric (2003)
—Karthika Audinet, May 2019
| Accession number | BZ.1933.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Indian subcontinent,
second half of the 10th–15th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. 30.5 cm × W. 37.5 cm (12 × 14 3/4 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Cotton; block-printed; possibly painted |
| Acquisition history |
Tano Collection, Cairo; Robert Woods and Mildred Barnes Bliss, purchase (through Frances Morris), 1932; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, 1940. |
This fragment features a decorative motif composed of a large rosette enclosed within a partial square. Quarter rosettes and narrow borders were printed by turning wooden blocks at right angles, while protecting and masking certain areas. We see several edges of repeats, imprecise corners, and some outlines intruding into the outer border. The latter is made of paired leaves with buds and quatrefoils. The design is outlined with uneven brown lines and further defined by the undyed areas. Although the reverse cannot be examined, the uneven appearance of blue indicates that there may have been less dye saturation for blue. The fabric appearance is like BZ.1933.23, woven with equal density of warp and weft threads.
The colors and design aesthetic are similar to those seen in BZ.1933.16. The fragment is also comparable to several pieces in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University.Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, EA1990.973, http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/object/EA1990.973; EA1990.947, http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/object/EA1990.947; EA1990.948, http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/object/EA1990.948. The fragment has a border and field very much like contemporary bedspreads made in India using the block-printing method, and may have been used as bedding, hangings, canopies or body wraps.
—Karthika Audinet, May 2019
Notes
| Accession number | BZ.1933.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Indian subcontinent,
second half of the 10th–15th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. 30.5 cm × W. 37.5 cm (12 × 14 3/4 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Cotton; block-printed; possibly painted |
| Acquisition history |
Tano Collection, Cairo; Robert Woods and Mildred Barnes Bliss, purchase (through Frances Morris), 1932; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, 1940. |
F. Morris, “Catalogue of Textile Fabrics, The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection” (unpublished catalogue, Washington, DC, 1940), 453.
| Accession number | BZ.1933.29 |
|---|---|
| Attribution and Date |
Indian subcontinent,
second half of the 10th–15th c.
|
| Measurements |
H. 30.5 cm × W. 37.5 cm (12 × 14 3/4 in.) |
| Technique and Material |
Cotton; block-printed; possibly painted |
| Acquisition history |
Tano Collection, Cairo; Robert Woods and Mildred Barnes Bliss, purchase (through Frances Morris), 1932; Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, 1940. |