Chintz textile fragment

Date1710-1730

MediumCotton, mordant-painted and resist-dyed

Dimensions24 1/4 x 19"

Credit LineIn memory of Henry Ginsburg

Object number2007-96

DescriptionFragment of white chintz cotton, mordant-painted and resist dyed in scrolling floral design, including tulips and other flowers, curling leaves, and stems. The colors include red, pink, yellow, blue, and green (yellow over blue). The textile is pieced together in several places and the edges are raw.
Label TextChintzes from India, such as this example, were highly prized in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the eighteenth century, their use in the colonies was legal, unlike the situation in England, where they were allowed in only for re-export.