The Tapi collection brings together exceptional historical textiles that were treasured, not only by courtiers and royalty in India, but in markets spanning the globe from South-East Asia to Europe. Trade, Temple and Court: Indian Textiles from the Tapi Collection introduces for the first time several of the most outstanding textiles in the collection with detailed text and over 240 lavish illustrations. Gatefold spreads enhance the reader’s understanding of even the larger textiles, while diagrams elucidate intricate structural and design elements. The Tapi pieces encompass a range of materials and motifs, from 14 century cloth woven and dyed or printed in Gujarat for maritime communities in South-East Asia to the painted cottons and embroideries favoured by the Western market and pictorial pichhwais specially designed for religious use. The collection is particularly rich in rare early Kashmir shawls, as well as in 17 century articles for urban use, such as floorspreads, sashes and hangings. More recent examples of beautifully woven cotton jamdanis and silk Baluchari pieces are also included. Noted textile scholars Ruth Barnes, Steven Cohen and Rosemary Crill have categorised the collection according to pattronage and historical use, bringing fascinating insights to the realm of Indian textiles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rosemary Crill
Rosemary Crill is Deputy Curator of the Indian & South-East Asian Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, where she specialises in Indian textiles and Rajasthani paiting. Her publications include Hats from India, Tie-dyed Textiles of India (co-author), Colours of the Indus: Costume and Textiles of Pakistan (co-author), Indian Ikat Textiles, Marwar Paiting: A History of the Jodhpur Style, and Indian Embroiderey.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ruth Barnes
Ruth Barnes received a doctorate from the University of Oxford, based on her research published as The Ikat Textiles of Lamalera, A Study of an Eastern Indonesian Veaving Tradition. She has written numerous articles on eastern Indonesian weaving and related art forms, and also jointly edited Dress and Gender: Making and Meaning in Cultural Context. Her current research is on historical aspects of the Indian Ocean trade network; as part of this investigation she has published Indian Block-Printed Textiles in Egypt: The Newberry Collection in the Ashmolean Museum.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Steven Cohen
Steven Cohen received his doctorate from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, on the subject of Floorspreads in pre-Mughal India. Formerly Deputy Editor of Hali magazine, and now an idependent textile historian, he has specialized in the general study of Asian textiles, with early Indian woven silks, Idian knotted-pile carpets, and structural analysis as primary interests.
There are no reviews yet.