Indian Textiles 1,000 years of art and design
Indian Textiles 1,000 years of art and design
Artists on the Indian Subcontinent
Spanning time, region, technique
most ancient and illustrious
the fabrics are arranged in
maintain some of the world’s
textile traditions. Generations of cultivators, weavers, dyers, printers and embroiderers
have ingeniously harnessed the region’s rich natural resources
to create a remarkable range of
fine fabrics. Uniting masterworks
from the collection of The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum with exceptional pieces from the collection of London-based
Karun Thakar, this exhibition celebrates Indian artists’
extraordinary achievements in textile production and design.
and levels of patronage,
three thematic sections that
correspond to the predominate
ornamental elements traditionally used by Indian textile makers: abstract, floral and figurative.
From simply woven stripes and checks to complex narrative
scenes requiring many skilled
specialists, the designs on these textiles may impart color and
beauty, communicate personal and group identity, express
deeply felt spiritual beliefs, or
render fabrics appropriate for a
particular person, place, occasion or consumer market. Dating
from the ninth to the early 20th
centuries, these textiles and their
vibrant patterning tell fascinating stories of the people who
originally made and used them and the worlds they inhabited.
Cover | Hanging, Southeast India, 17th/18th century. Cotton, plain-weave, hand-painted mordants, dyes. Karun Thakar Collection, London.
ABSTRACT PATTERNS Geometric patterns based on
Geometric and abstract designs
straight lines are inherent in all
occur in the oldest textiles
textiles from the moment they are
known from South Asia, and for
woven. Vertical stripes, horizontal
centuries these were the preferred
bands and checks can be created
patterning for dress fabrics. While
as an integral part of the weaving
floral motifs later became the
process itself. Although surface
favored ornament for clothing,
decoration techniques such as
particularly in northern India, some
printing and embroidery more
floral designs became highly
easily allow representational
abstracted, and in Southern India
patterning, South Asian printers
traditional checked and striped
and embroiderers maintain a
patterns continued to prevail.
rich vocabulary of circles, stripes, zigzags and other geometric designs, certain styles of which have become associated with specific communities.
Fig. 5 | Woman’s shawl or head-cover (bagh), Hazara region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 19th century. Cotton plain-weave ground embroidered with floss silk thread in surface darning stitch (four panels stitched together). Karun Thakar Collection, London
FLORAL PATTERNS Flowers and plants have inspired Indian artists for centuries. In textile ornament, floral patterns first started to become widespread during the Sultanate period (12061526), when Islamic cultures began to influence Indian art and design. Floral motifs became particularly popular under the patronage of Mughal emperors (1526-1857), and myriad interpretations of Mughal floral styles arose in communities across India. Indian fabrics patterned with flowers and scrolling vegetation were exported across the globe. Indian textile artists excelled in adopting designs for various consumer markets, and this cross-cultural exchange enriched ornamental vocabularies worldwide. In India, no one floral style ever fell out of fashion to the point of disappearance, and new floral designs continue to be used in conjunction with older styles.
Fig. 4 | Detail of Fragment of chintz, coastal southeast India, made for the Dutch market but found in Japan, 1700-1730. Cotton, plain-weave, handpainted mordants and dyes. Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection T-2864. Photo by Bruce M. White Photography.
FIGURATIVE PATTERNS Textiles with figurative patterns –
Although there are many technical
including humans, deities, real and
hurdles to producing textiles
imagined animals, and objects –
ornamented with figural forms,
are created across South Asia by
the skill and ingenuity of South
people of all faiths. Providing a
Asian textile artists have enabled
window into religious beliefs and
an abundance of fabrics patterned
observances as well as a broad
with these designs. Various
spectrum of lived experience,
communities have developed
figurative patterns on textiles tell
their own distinctive figural styles,
stories of gods and heroes, offer
resulting in designs as diverse
glimpses into the luxurious courts
as the people of the Indian
of kings and rulers, and record
Subcontinent.
countless scenes of everyday life.
Fig. 2 | Fragment of a furnishing fabric or garment, probably Gujarat, western India, late 14th/mid-15th century. Silk, lampas weave, main and binding warps bound in 2/1 S warp-faced twill, pattern and ground wefts bound in weft-faced 2/1 S twill. Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection T-1209
Fig. 3 | Detail of Shawl or waist-cloth, Paithan or Aurangabad, Maharashtra, early 18th century, with stamp with date 1120 AH/1708-9 CE. Silk and metal-wrapped thread, plain-weave field, tapestry-woven ends, side and cross borders. The Textile Museum Collection 6.315 Museum purchase.
Fig. 6 | Sari (patolu), Patan, Gujarat, 19th century. Silk, double ikat (resist-dyed warp and weft), plain weave. The Textile Museum Collection 6.63. Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1931.
Support for this exhibition, its accompanying publication and related programming is provided by the following:
Alastair and Kathy Dunn Roger and Claire Pratt E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Bruce P. and Olive W. Baganz Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection Endowment Tina M. deVries Helen K. King Norma and Ted Lonoff The Markarian Foundation Edwina M. Nelon Mary Jo Otsea and Richard H. Brown David M. Sloan Barbara and Jefferey Steele Corinne M. Berezuk Sylvia Bergstrom, Joe Rothstein, and Marin Hagen Cynthia R. Boyer Sheridan and Richard Collins K. Burke Dillon Grace and David Pratt Jay M. Schippers
VISITOR INFORMATION GALLERY TOURS
Join one of our drop-in tours or book a custom exhibition tour for your group. Learn more at www.museum.gwu.edu/visit.
PROGRAMS
Check the monitor in the lobby or talk to our receptionist to learn about programs happening during your visit. For a full list of onsite and virtual programs, visit www.museum.gwu.edu/programs.
TEXTILE LIBRARY
To schedule an appointment at the museum’s Arthur D. Jenkins Library, email our librarian at museumlibrary@gwu.edu.
ARTISANS GALLERY
Purchase and learn about handmade textiles representing global traditions from India, Japan, Peru and more. Follow our Instagram @ArtisansGalleryShop.
JOIN OR DONATE
Support from our members and donors enables us to showcase textile art through exhibitions, programs and publications. To join or renew a current membership, or to make a donation, visit www.museum.gwu.edu/ support, call 202-994-5579 or stop by the front desk.
The limited-edition catalog for this exhibition is available
1,000 years of art and design
Indian Textiles
Indian Textiles
Karun
1,000 years of art and design
The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
for sale in the museum’s Artisans Gallery.
Located on GW’s campus in downtown D.C., The Textile Museum celebrates art, history and world cultures. Public programs and exhibitions are inspired by diverse collections of global textiles and local history. Resources for students and scholars include the peer-reviewed The Textile Museum Journal, the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center and the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies. The Textile Museum Collection includes more than 21,000 examples of handmade textile art from Middle Eastern, Asian, African, and Indigenous American cultures, and a growing collection of contemporary art. The museum also houses the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection, one of the world’s most significant textile study collections.
You can place an order at 202-994-7945 or
Karun Thakar An avid collector since childhood, Karun Thakar is guided by his own curiosity—as a result, his collections are remarkably diverse. At their heart are textiles from India, Africa, Japan, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe, but they also encompass bronzes from Africa and India, jewellery, trade beads, gold adornments, Asian pottery and English furniture. Karun is passionate about sharing his collections with audiences across the world. Through museum exhibitions, publications and scholarship he wishes to contribute to a wider understanding of the postcolonial cultural and personal narratives of different communities, while inspiring in others the same curiosity that set him on his path.
Indian Textiles 1,000 years of art and design
artisansgallery@gwu.edu.
Karun
TextileMuseum
@GWTextileMuseum
701 21st St., NW, Washington, DC 20052
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