Images(4)

Textile, striped chintz yardage

Date1780 to 1810

OriginAsia, India (probably)

MediumCotton

Dimensions35" W X 211" L

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1981-6

DescriptionLength of unused textile patterned with lengthwise stripes enclosing flower springs on indigo ground and floral coiling vines on white ground. Colors include dark indigos, white, reds, and lavender.The textile is heavily glazed. Both selvages are present.
Label TextThe indigo blue in this piece was vat dyed after wax resist had been applied to those areas intended to remain red, black, lavender, or white. Faint crackling of the wax can be detected in the white areas. This unused textile length shows the brilliant colors and shiny glaze that were achieved by Asian printers, dyers, and finishers. The full length measures over 5 ¾ yards long.

The origin of the textile is still the subject of scholarly research. It may have been made under Dutch patronage on India’s Coromandel Coast or possibly in a Dutch factory established in Batavia, Java, in the early nineteenth century.

MarkingsRound stamp on one end may refer to VOC, the mark of the Dutch East India Company. Another round stamp appears to have numbers 3/ 187/ [?].
ProvenanceOnce in the collection of Elinor Merrell.