A palampore or (Palempore) is a type of hand-painted and

mordant A mordant or dye fixative is a substance used to set (i.e., bind) dyes on fabrics. It does this by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric (or tissue). It may be used for dyeing fabrics or for intensifying ...

dyed Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ch ...

bed cover or hanging panel that was made in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

for the export market during the eighteenth century and nineteenth century.

Origins

Palampores were produced on the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

. Palampore were recorded as being traded in Salem in the 18th Century. The term palampore may come from ''palangposh'', a term for bedcover from

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

"palang" (bed) and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

"posh" (cover) or from

Palanpur Palanpur (Gujarati language, Gujarati: ) is a city and a headquarters of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Etymology Palanpur in early times is said ...

, the northwest Indian trading town. Antique Palampore Chintz Indian Textile

Technique

Palampores were mordant-painted and resist-dyed. A palampore was made using the

kalamkari Kalamkari, also commonly spelled as qalamkari, is an ancient textile printing art, that finds its roots in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kalamkari gained popularity in the South India during the reign of Vijayanagara Empire. ''Kalam'' imp ...

technique, whereby an artist drew designs on

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

with a

kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

pen containing mordant and then dipped the textile in dye. The dye adhered to the cloth only where the mordant had been applied. This lengthy process had to be repeated for each color in the design. Small details were then painted by hand on the cloth after the dying process was completed. Analysis indicates that some palampores were produced using '' chay'' root dye to create colours in the red and brown range. Some palampores had

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

chain stitch Chain stitch is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern. Chain stitch is an ancient craft – examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have been dat ...

worked in silk thread.

Design

Palampore patterns were usually very complex and elaborate, depicting a wide variety of plants, flowers, and animals, including peacocks, elephants, and horses. Because a palampore was hand-created, each design is unique, but many featured a central flowering tree with a mound at the base where there may be animals. Design historians have noted the similarities between palampores and crewel embroidery and suggested that English trends may have influenced what East India Company directors commissioned in India. Palampore made for Persia and the Mughal courts were more likely to be more formal and symmetrical in design. They depicted architectural structures, shrubs and tent interiors.

Use

Palampore was popular in the Mughal and Deccan Courts. The borders of these pieces were block printed while the centre depicted intricate designs, made by hand. Palampores were exported to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and to

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

colonists in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and what was then called

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(now known as Sri Lanka). Palampore were labour-intensive to produce, and the light fabric they were made from is fragile, therefore, the few examples that have survived are often quite valuable today.

Impact

Palampores predated European production of printed-textiles and influenced innovations in chemicals and techniques used in Europe, and improvements in quality. In a domestic setting, American and European embroiderers cut around Indian printed cotton designs and attached them to quilts. English printers began to copy palampore designs using block printing methods with a large-scale repeat to create fabric that could be used for curtains or bedding. In France, the Braquenié fabric house produced designs inspired by palampores from the 1800s.

External links

Palampores at the V&A

References

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External links

A palampore made on India's Coromandel Coast -- now at the National Gallery of AustraliaA palampore made in India -- now at the National Gallery of Australia
Painted fabrics Textile arts of India Indian inventions