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History and Technique

The manufacturing of sophisticated textiles in India is as ancient as its civilization. The discovery of dyed cotton fabric dates back to the Indus Valley civilization. The art of dying with the use of mordants was well known to Indian dyers some 5,000 years ago. This form of dying which reveals a mastery in the chemistry of dying was responsible for making India famous all over the world for its dyed and printed fabrics.

Block printing is practiced in regions of India where a cotton or silk fabric is printed with the help of wooden blocks, with beautifully carved designs. First the outline block is printed, after which the blocks for filling in the colours are to be utilized. If the background is to be a light colour, the cloth is dyed after the printing has been completed. Normally, three to four colours of earth natural vegetable dyes are used.

	Wooden blocks used for printing are carved by hand.

Animal fibres such as silk and wool accept most natural dyes with comparative ease, unlike cotton, which inherently rejects a permanent bonding. For cotton, an intermediary agent or catalyst called a mordant must be used. Different mordants unite with certain natural dyes to cause them to be bound to the cotton fibre. The mordant, a metallic oxide, combines with the dye to create an insoluble substance that coats the fibre. Different mordants can yield different yet predictable colours in the same dye bath. Varying concentrations of the mordants can affect colour density. The manipulation of the kinds of mordants, their purity, and their density, is one of the secrets of the dyer’s art.

The use of wooden blocks to print or stamp designs on cloth, especially cotton, is still common in India. The designs vary from place to place, but the technique is the same. The designs are first drawn on paper, which is pasted onto a block of wood. The wood is cut with a crude engraving tool to the depth of one-third of an inch. Holes are cut to allow air that would be trapped within the cavities formed by cutting out the design to escape. This allows the dyes to spread evenly without air bubbles. The wood must be firm and fine grained.

		Indian embroidery exists in exquisite variations with each state having a unique style of its own

The fabric is laid on a low bench on a pad formed of several layers of heavy cloth. The printer squats in front of this with the dye in a pan or earthen vessel at his side. The vessel contains a frame that is covered with layers of cloth or blanket, forming a pad that becomes saturated with colour and on which the blocks are pressed before stamping.

Embroidery is the embellishment of cloth with designs made by needle and thread; an art that stretches back to antiquity. Over the centuries, embroidery has been used to adorn everything from handkerchiefs to the most sumptuous state regalia. Embroidery in India is done on woven cloth of cotton, wool and silk.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURA CHENOWETH

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