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Royal Indian Textile

Cloth Design

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Muhammad Amin
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1K views23 pages

Royal Indian Textile

Cloth Design

Uploaded by

Muhammad Amin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
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FOREWORD ostume, lke architecture, is one ofthe most visible signs of civization. What person wears is often indicative of his or her personal and social identity, marital status, occupation ‘and sometimes even religion. Te study of the costume of Indias & particulary dificult subject. Any such inquiry must tke into account anareathe size ofa continent, which spans 16 ecological ones. Itlso encompasses a muliude of diferent peoples ther ich past, extend- Ing back at east 6,000 years, and the merging, moving apart and ‘meeting again ofthe many influences that have shaped thei culture. ‘This study of India's royal costumes and textiles mirrors the country’s complexhistoryandtraition In the Indian context, the most dificult aspect of an historeal study i the nearabsence of ay surviving costume materia rom any period earir than the eighteenth century: Even textile evidence of a ‘more generic nature is disconcerting sparse. single fragment of plain madder ed cotton cloth, dated to around 175080 sal that sur vives from the entire Indus Valley civilization. No material is avaiable ‘rom the next 3,000 years, ntl about ap 1200, Indeed, part froma few pieces trom Sultanate and Mughal Indi, the costumes that have su vived dat only from thenineteenth and twentieth centuries, ‘Although Tndlan sculpture and painting from the ancient and ‘medieval periods do ilustrate the forms and uses of royal apparel, these often lead us into the realms of pure conjecture Literary refer- ‘ences too are abundant and detiled, but ony rarely do they conjure ‘upa motif pattem or syle with any precision. For most of India’s ‘tory, therefore, we can only try to elit from these indirect sources ‘composite, it general image ofthe sartorial tastes ofits rulers, For the more recent colonial ers, however, a sharper picture can be drawn ‘sa result ofthe many cour garments that survive in museums and private collectons. hese complement richly the evidence trom palnt- ings, photographs and other media sources, ‘The favour of Indian costume is sensed through movement, drape ‘and detall. The Indian woman, for example, s never stil. Every move- rent allowsher atire to be viewed aftesh, She constantly rearanges its drape over the head, the shoulders or around the andes. The liting ‘ofthe head permits not only a glmpse of her Kohled eyes and jeweled hal but als the deta ofthe weave or embroidery, colour and patter, ofthe fabric The smallest det, such s the ine edgingot her pata orghaghra, is conceived of and revealedinamestenticing manner [No less important i the association ofthe colour of apparel with custom and ritual, Bven today, many women in India continue to wear specific colour for each day of the week, Apart fom the codes pre- scribed for religious observances, the change of seasons and rites of passage are also marked by a change in the choice of colour. In Rajasthan, for instance, princesses and peasants alike celebrate the advent of Basant (spring) by wearing yellow. ompsie) Equally, the assemblage of an Indian costume includes an Incredible amount of jewellery: The hair is omamented, as are the ‘ears, nose, neck and breast. girdle adorns the walt, and the wrists and ankles are weighted with gold or silver. Indeed, every toe may pos- sessits own ring. As every region and community of India hasits own ‘vocabulary of personal omament, thas not been possible to cover ‘thisimmportantsubjectin depth, However, thi tempt to presentroyal ‘costume and accoutrements in their entirety should provide rich ‘material for scholarsto investigate further. As this book reveal, Indias royal costumes were the rut of af ‘ence and leisure, With the possible exception of those designed specifically for battle, they were notin anyway related to clothes for work Ofen, they were manifestations of Imperial caprice: clothes to be seen in, clothes to be confortable in of clothes fashioned forthe pursuit of pleasure, The rulers of Northen and Western India sought these atiibutesin the shaped and stitched garment, may’elements of ‘which appear io have been imported from regions beyond the subcon- ‘inentl frontier. The dynasties of the South and Bast, on the other hand, sppeartohave retained amore ancient and indigenous tradition ‘of wearing unsitched cloth. This book concentrates on the former style, lthongh the costumes ofthe Souther cour of Hyderabad have also heen ineluded for their distinctiveness and idlosyneracy Above al else, this book isa labour of love. It has required Rita ‘Kumar, the author, to travel and research for two decades. She has sought the advice of scholars, patrons, designers and fine craftsmen {rom across the county. She is an important contemporary designer ‘herself ander creationsare, on occasion, womby members Indi's {ormer royal families. Her cut and draped garments and her interpre ‘ation of tana prints and embroideres place her work firmly Within fine modern craftsmanship. Therefore, she has also highlighted ‘contemporary Indian costume within the context of a continuous Iistory and tradition. What happens in Indian fashion an style today is necessarily based on what has preceded therm. The mots and _symbols ofhstory are often transformed inthis process, perhapseven changed, but sill resonate with the memory of a magnificent pat Itisthis viewpoint thats the most important aspect of Ris work, for it takes what is fine from yesterday, invests € with contemporary meaning and relevance, and assures for traditional eraftsmanship & ‘ital fur. In publishing this book, Ritu has attempted to share her ‘own journey with people everywhere who are concemed withthe relationship ofhand and heart .MARTAND SINGH, (asrmen ef INTACH (ndin National Pato at and Calera rtp, UR Trt) Zeon embroidered sk shatwa from the Puna early twentieth century. The Bed motifs placed within atelis and surrounded by flowering vines and ambss. INTRODUCTION 1 1047 the maharajas who had ruled the Indian subcontinent for ‘centuries saw theirteritores merge withthe newly formed dem rt tates Ina royalty, whose apparel would otherwise have continuedto evolve in splendid traditional syle, changed withthe times asthe pomp and ceremony once so much apart ofthe day ves ofthe ‘ling classes, was no longer relevant. With the disappearance of royal ‘itu the tadional and ceremonial costumes were either packed way in trunks, donated to maseums sold to privae collectors, given Away or left to decay. Demand for the sills of master craftsmen ectned and the textile craft industry, already staggering under the ‘onslaught of colonization and industislization, suffered a near fatal ‘low. Until this point in India history, there had never been the need {ora museum to showcase the ert that were silin even dy use; at least nota museum that specialized in textiles or costumes. The royal ‘costumes featured inthis book are among the few surving examples oftndiavasttextlehertage From the coming of the frst Aryans to the end of British colonial rule the foundations of nd’ reat empires were bul largely on the textile trade. At one time, most cities, towns and villages had their fowm spinnets, weavers, ders, printers and embroiderers, whose ‘skills wore passed down trough the generations. The creative processes of weaving, spinning, dyeing and printing followed the rhythm of the seasons, reflecting nature's own eycle of creation ‘through colour, texture and fabric. Royal textes were custom made for court ceremonies and rituals related tothe Samstaras ~ the 16 Hindu tes of passage, from birt, through marrage and parenthood, ‘odeath The temple rusts as well as India's uling families were great patrons ofthe arts; all were connolsseurs of besuty with exacting tastes, The attention to deta, the quest for perfection and the wealth and glamour displayed by royal costumes created akind of splendour that was unmatched anywhere els inthe world, ‘The relationship betwoen the craftsman and the patron went beyond commercial interest. Both played an important rol in society as guardians of shilpa ~aindu concept that embraces art and raftin ‘one acto creation. Through his dligent work and his pursuit of perfec- ton the craftsman worshipped Vishvakarms the God of Cra. Forms ‘were created in accordance with the eanons lid down inthe shilpa _shastras, the ancien treatise which prescribed the disciplines forthe performing and visual arts. Most ofthe platings, sculpoures and ther artefacts produced were elated in some way toa ring patron and his ‘court. In essence, this book i a celebration of royal patronage which asthe lifeblood of so mary texte gulls Hindu and Muslim alike, and which allowed sucha rich and divers texte industry to flourish "To study the evolution of costume Is to study the history of a people and their relationship to thei envionment. For 6,000 years, invaders and seters have been drawn to Inds, coming toi ia the imalayan passes and across the seas, bringing with them socal, rel ious and political change. However, Indian society is secular and has ‘ppeee) ‘Kalamkart by M. Kallashan (1996) ‘always valued its own traditions so that changes were never easily imposed. Throughout the history ofthe subcontinent, the indigenous ‘Populations have selected, absorbed and assimilated external inf ‘ences, and yet they have always remained firmly rooted in their own ‘cultural entices. This is bome out by the way clothing and textiles evolved, New forms and techniques were inepired by may other cul- ‘ares, but they were adapted differenty fromm region to region. The thread of the individual aesthetic was never toaly lost. The age-old sialls of growing, spinning, weaving, dying and patterning cotton, the diversity of sk and woolen textiles, the sitchin, sing, omament- Ing and detailing of all these fabrics and thelr transformation into {garments have survived for thousands of year Incredibly, today, despite the absence of the royal patron, the majority of these ancient skis are stil practised by an estimated 16,000,000 cratspeople across the country. As most ofthe modern world Seems to be severing it links with the natural and organic processes of texte production, the Indian subcontinent stil retains, hold on many ofits ancient clothing traditions. Init continued use of ‘theunsttched garment, Indiais one ofthe few countries that doesnot {low aunformily prescribed fashionand textile code. The classicism ‘of Indian textiles ies not only in the sophisticated craftsmanship and ‘uietand simple elegance, butalsoin te emphasis on the drape ofthe {abeie which isready to wearstraght from theloom further enhanced by the personality of the wearer. Nowadays, however, s fashion is, Increasingly dictatedby the media thistle individuality sin dan sg2rofbeing lost. Wittheglobaladvancementin communications and travel a culture is no longer contained within its geographic bound ares, and the pace of change continues to accelerate as the engines of ‘mass production proliferate, The cross-polination of regal and ‘Wester styles has resulted in fresh new design vocabulaves but may also have led to some confusion of identity. At this juncture, doct ‘menting the logacy of textiles and costumes ofan older order is ike driving a stake into the fux of time to create a point of reference, a8 we dit further away from a world of handerated creativity. One of {he aims of this book is to help assess how far we have travelled into the commercial world and wht, slong with our feudal past, we may have lost on the way. hope that its contents wil inspire those with an Interest in preserving te traditions of hand.made Indian textiles and ‘especially thse for whom fabrics fashioned by many hands are worth ‘the effort of redesign and revival so that they retain foothold in our ally lives. bis as much celebration ofthe textile aesthetics of royal India and the splendous of bygone times, a it sa testimony to the survival of the wor’ richest repertoire of hand-

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