This is the second post on the 18th-19th century Indian textile we’ve had the good fortune to work on of late. If you missed the first post in this series, you can find it here. In this post we’ll present history and possible use of the piece.

This kalamkari is a treasure of the venerable 18th-19th century Indian trade cloth boom days. This type of textile likely developed from the highly interconnected trade relationship between Persia and India, and was produced for export to the international market as early as the 10th century.

The complex patterns are drawn with pen and ink, as well as block printing. In John Irwin’s definitive text Indian Painted and Printed Fabrics, we find images of the tools and techniques that were used create kalamkari, including bamboo pens, twig brushes and block printing.In our textile, it is difficult to decipher which areas are painted and which are block printed. The work is very fine, with minimal bleeding of the dyes and careful composition. The corners have been carefully finessed during printing to beautifully integrate the ornamentation and regulate the complex pattern repeats.

The front is one large panel of fine cotton, except for the outer border, which is pieced. An inscription drawn in three cartouches is part of the outer border, although the original owner, and everyone consulted so far, is utterly stumped by the script. There are, however, lots of theories – the name of drawer or block printer, the name of Indian workshop or the date and name of Persian broker for whom the piece was made… or as the owner suggested “do not dry clean.”

For more insight, we reached out to a colleague who owns a similar 19th century “prayer rug” with kalamkari work from the Machilipatnam region of India. He suggested “this style of Kalamkari were made in India for export to Persia, but there was also a cruder version being made domestically in Persia around Isfahan mimicking the Indian ones. Judging from the intricacy of the work, I would be inclined to think that this textile is the Indian made export rather than the Isfahan version.”

He went on to say that the symmetry of our piece indicated that it was probably a floor covering or a bed coverlet, and thought the inscription was in Arabic or Farsi. Irwin states that block printed and painted coverlets and floor-coverings, similar to this 19th century coverlet, were from “Masulipatam,” which was later called Machilipatnam.

A map of block printing and trade cloth centers in India shows Masulipatam was a significant production area.

A web search for Masulipatam gave us another sister of our kalamkari, also with chintz on the reverse.

For another perspective, we welcomed a colleague to lend her impressions. A textile scholar, collector and traveler, she noted that the quilting work was often seen in Indo-Portuguese hangings and coverlets, since the Portuguese climate warranted a thicker cloth. Observing the careful arrangement of the printing around the corners of the textile, she also told us that the key person responsible for this, and the one who is most respected in this art is the “nagash” or “naqqash” – the designer.

She further suggested that the inscription could be Arabic, or Mudéjar – referring to Muslims who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but did not convert to Christianity.We asked several speakers of Arabic and Farsi to decipher the inscription. One Farsi speaker suggested it is a stamp from Isfahan, the 17th century Persian capital, and phonetically sounds like “Taze karam.”

So now we are asking for your help! Do you know what this inscription says? Can you help us find the birth place of our beautiful Masulipatam kalamkari coverlet/floor covering?

By Varvara Degtiarenko
Textile conservation assistant and independent filmmaker

References:

INDIAN PIGMENT PAINTINGS ON CLOTH
Kay Talwar and Kalyan Krishna, 1979.

INDIAN PAINTED AND PRINTED FABRICS
John Irwin and Margaret Hall, 1971

TRADE GOODS: A STUDY OF INDIAN CHINTZ
Alice Baldwin Beer, 1970

PORTUGAL AND THE EAST THROUGH EMBROIDERY
International Exhibitions Foundation, Phyllis C. Kane, 1981

Part 1:

We’re delighted to share with you two posts regarding a wonderful Indian ‘kalamkari’ that we have been conserving and researching over the past few months. In this post, we’ll tell you about a beautiful quilt and the restoration work that we have performed, and next week we’ll discuss its history and the kalamkari genre.

Block printed and hand drawn, this textile treasure of 18th-19th century Indian trade cloth is an old family piece owned by an Iranian American, and little is known about its specific history. Now owned by a very conscientious collector, the piece has come to us to stabilize for mounting and framing, so that it can be safely enjoyed. And at five by six feet, this truly stunning and elegant textile will command any room.

Kalamkari in Sanskrit translates literally as kalam for pen, and kari for drawn – which is how the textile is adorned, along with hand block prints. Concentric floral borders are arranged around a central medallion, much like a Persian rug, this textile seems to call out its Persian destiny.

This brittle and papery piece is hand quilted, with a thin batting layer between hand woven cotton block printed face and reverse. The borders exhibit a variety of recognizable flora such as tulips, carnations and thistles, as well as other motifs. The ornamentation is rich with colors of blue, red, green, purple, and black, and a tan background that may originally have been a lighter shade.

The back is a highly-polished creamy chintz (polished cotton), patterned with small red tulip-like flowers. A bright line between some stitching on the back, indicates the color of the original bright cream chintz, and the former application of a hanging sleeve for display. Intriguing!

As our eyes and hands traveled across the quilt, hidden splits and holes were slowly revealed. These damages are unlikely to be from everyday use, but rather from inherent weaknesses and dyes in the fabric, and from light exposure, display, transport, and folded storage. After centuries of devoted gazes, there is minimal damage or soiling. Although the front is deceptively fragile; the back is pristine! In all, about 100 areas were conserved.

Our conservation work is as non-intrusive as possible, retaining all original materials, and following the adage ‘less is more’. To begin, the surfaces were carefully vacuumed, and then all the splits, tears, and holes, often in clusters, were marked for treatment. Over these damaged areas, we hand-stitched a sheer netting, or tulle, as a protective overlay. In normal light this netting is nearly invisible; in a raking light it appears like a veil. The diagram of our treatment indicates the netted areas, as well as all the small holes and tears which were delicately tacked using figure-eight and couching stitches with hair-like Skala thread.

After comprehensive stabilization, the kalamkari was stitch-mounted to a padded and fabric covered support board. Support was provided by stitching around the edge of the piece and also in a grid pattern, so that it can be displayed vertically without any damage. The final step will be to mount with a UF, all-light protective Plexiglass frame, and hung where it can be treasured and admired.

After plying our needles to conserve this beautiful kalamkari for future generations, we set about trying to unravel its past. Come back next week to learn what we discovered, and find out if you will be the one to unlock its final mystery!