Goldstein Museum of Design

This comprehensive work focuses on literature relating to the textile traditions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Indexes by author, museum, geographic location, and subject allow immediate access to relevant sources. This comprehensive work focuses on literature relating to the textile traditions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Indexes by author, museum, geographic location, and subject allow immediate access to relevant sources.

This sumptuous volume covers embroidery from many different regions of India, ranging from the elaborate floral design of the Mughal court to vibrant folk patterns embellished with cowrie shells and mirrors. Stunning examples, drawn from the V&A's outstanding collection, shows the richness and variety of Indian textiles traditions. Patterns and colour have both influenced and been influenced by Western design, from the 17th century, when the earliest surviving pieces illustrated here were sent over to Europe, right up to the present. From elaborate silk embroideries made for export to the folk and the tribal embroideries used for weddings and festivals, the style - whether for bedcovers or saris--areas varied as the subcontinent itself. Items of clothing, such as dresses, hats and bags, are featured alongside elaborate wall hangings, and techniques such as beading and appliqu s are also included. Individual stitches are highlighted in photographic details, providing a useful visual guide to techniques. The book will provide not only a wealth inspiration to contemporary designers and embroiderers but also a visual feast for anyone with an interest in Indian arts and crafts.

Published to accompany an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Colours of the Indus is a comprehensive perspective on the history of textiles in Pakistan. The period considered dates from ca. 5000 B.C. through to the present day.

As Michael Harrington's New American Poverty alerted readers to that problem, so the present collection makes readers aware of the various conditions of single parenting. . . . The institutional barriers of courts, housing, and workplace to the economic well-being of the female single parent are explicitly and directly examined. Solid recommendations for institutionalizing change on the state and federal levels are made. The interdisciplinary expertise of the authors covers the fields of law, social work, urban planning, housing, economics, and public policy, all with solid academic preparation. Charts are clear and concise, and the laguage is direct and concrete. Choice The single-parent family phenomenon is primarily about households headed by single mothers with minor children. Some perceive this growing family form as a threat to the values of the traditional nuclear family and often stereotype the mothers and their children as problems all too often dependent on public assistance. Others cite an uncaring society that ignores the needs of its more vulnerable members. Stereotypes of single women as parents, however, often significantly misrepresent the reality. Indeed, the very ignoring of the great range of differences that characterize contemporary single mothers has itself led to a large and harmful body of myths that perpetuate and intensify the single parent's problems. This sensitive, substantive book provides a needed examination of the realities of single parenthood for women. It makes a major contribution toward thoughtful formulation of policies for improving the economic and social well-being of single parents and their children. Scholars and practitioners in the fields of law, social work, urban planning, housing, economics, and public policy address and respond to the many problems, challenges, and barriers that single mothers confront in the courts, in labor markets, and in housing.

Exquisite and labor-intensive, phulkari ("floral-work" or "flower-craft") embroideries were originally produced by women in towns and villages across the greater Punjab, a region that today straddles Pakistan and India, from at least the early 19th century into the first decades of the 20th. Phulkaris were made from brightly colored silk thread on rough, earth-toned fabric. When done for domestic use, they functioned primarily as women's wraps at weddings or other important events. Especially following the Punjab's devastating partition in 1947, phulkaris were also produced as commercial exports. Focusing on a group of nineteen stunning works from the collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Phulkari surveys the genre's fascinating history. This is the first publication outside South Asia specifically on this art form. It also offers significant new information on the craft and its importance to personal, familial, and regional identity in the past and the present.  Published in association with the Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibition Schedule: Philadelphia Museum of Art (03/12/17-07/09/17)

On a multicolored embroidered cloth used as headcover by Panjabi women.

The Banjara - an ethnic group composed of semi-nomadic tribes found throughout the Indian subcontinent - are renowned for their highly colourful textiles. Embellished with mirrors, shells and intricate embroidery. Banjara work displays a surprisingly modern aesthetic. Created to showcase embroidery skill, protect the owner from harm and channel auspicious powers, the Banjara technique is unique in India and a celebration of the strength of the women who practise it. This is the first book devoted to the traditional clothing and embroidery of the Banjara, illuminating their long history and investigating their links with the European Roma.

This volume celebrates the diversity of the vast subcontinent by examining little known folk traditions of village and nomad peoples. It presents the world of arts in rural India-women's ritual diagrams created anew each day of rice flour, intricately embroidered lotuses and elephants and terracotta offerings to deities-all set against a backdrop of painted walls and desert skies. Drawing upon the traditions of India's some half million villages, the book helps comprehend the inner logic behind the almost numberless acts of Hindu devotion that occur each day, many of which involve the adornment of homes and altars and the creation of clay vessels and images. They show how, in traditions of embroidery and dress, we can `read' the complicated ethnic and caste relationships that characterize the societal matrix of the rural peoples.

This first book-length study on kanthas published outside of South Asia focuses on two premier collections, one assembled by the legendary historian of Indian art, Dr. Stella Kramrisch, the other by Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, leading proponents of self-taught art. Created from worn-out garments imaginatively embroidered by women with motifs and tales drawn from a rich regional repertoire, kanthas traditionally were stitched as gifts for births, weddings, and other family occasions.   Innovative essays by leading scholars explore the domestic, ritual, and historical contexts of the fascinating quilts in these collections--made between the mid-19th and mid-20th century in what is today Bangladesh and West Bengal, India--and trace their reinterpretation as emblems of national identity and works of art.  

In Bengal, mothers swaddle their infants and cover their beds in colorful textiles that are passed down through generations. They create these kantha from layers of soft, recycled fabric strengthened with running stitches and use them as shawls, covers, and seating mats. Making Kantha, Making Home explores the social worlds shaped by the Bengali kantha that survive from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the first study of colonial-period women's embroidery that situates these objects historically and socially, Pika Ghosh brings technique and aesthetic choices into discussion with iconography and regional culture. Ghosh uses ethnographic and archival research, inscriptions, and images to locate embroiderers' work within domestic networks and to show how imagery from poetry, drama, prints, and watercolors expresses kantha artists' visual literacy. Affinities with older textile practices include the region's lucrative maritime trade in embroideries with Europe, Africa, and China. This appraisal of individual objects alongside the people and stories behind the objects' creation elevates kantha beyond consideration as mere handcraft to recognition as art.

In a pioneering approach to textile study, this text presents an in-depth look at the embroideries and dress of the Rabaris of western India. It synthesizes folk art and culture, history and anthropology as a range of striking, elaborately embroidered textiles and exquisite jewellery worn by 12 Rabari subgroups are thoroughly documented. Looking deeper than documentation, Threads of Identity is equally about people. It portrays the Rabaris, proud, independent, deeply wedded to tradition, and explains the roles of embroidery and dress in their lives. interprets elements of embroidery and dress. Patterns in variations express how, over more than 10 centuries, Rabaris migrated across the subcontinent and spread into different regions. Adapting to new environments, subgroups of Rabaris simultaneously preserved their identity. The balance maintained between tradition and change is tangibly expressed in Rabari adornment. with Rabaris and brings to life these nomads and their own sense of their arts.

*A book dedicated to the incredible Chikankari style of embroidery, which remains relatively unknown in the west*Engages with the history and cultural relevance of Chikankari*Showcases a number of these beautiful traditional Indian embroideries, drawn from both public and private collections Chikankari is one of India's finest traditional embroideries, evoking Lucknawi culture and the elegant courts of the Awadh Nawabs. Chikankari appeared in Lucknow in the late 18th century and its exquisite aesthetic and craftsmanship has sustained the tradition to this day, through changing patronage and market trends. Chikankari is not just embroidery. The style is based on a creative blend of delicate embroidery, and impeccable dressmaking and sewing techniques; these components come together to create art that is legendary for its elegance and finesse. This beautifully illustrated book showcases unknown gems from personal and public collections, and brings to life the history of this unique craft tradition. Various chapters describe the mysterious origins of the craft, the range of costumes, the inspirations behind common Chikankari motifs, the time-honored elaborate production process, and the bewildering array of stitches that raised this craft to its status as a truly exceptional art form.

* With its beautiful illustrations and well informed text, the book will bring delight and understanding to many readers * It is a fresh perspective on Jaipur's traditional techniques of textile production * Gives a glimpse of the extraordinary range and quality of textiles that were once used at the Jaipur court Rajasthan has long been famous as a center of production of many different kinds of cloth, and for the skilled techniques of its crafts people. From woodblock printing and cotton embroidery to gota and zardozi, every type of cloth production and decoration is found in the region. Each is also well represented in the collection of the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, in the City Palace in Jaipur, as the members of the court were always ardent patrons and supporters of local arts. This is the fifth book in a new series of illustrated publications that was launched in 2014, with the intention of bringing the museum's collections to the attention of a wider audience. Other volumes illustrate some of our finest examples of arms and armour, painting and photography, and textiles and garments. In this volume, Dr Vandana Bhandari, a noted expert in the field, focuses specially on textiles that were made locally. By showcasing and celebrating some of our best examples, we hope to raise awareness and interest and preserve the legacy of the magnificent textiles of Rajasthan. Other titles in the series: Festivals at the Jaipur Court, by Vibhuti Sachdev Arms & Armour at the Jaipur Court, by Robert Elgood Textiles & Garments at the Jaipur Court, by Rahul Jain Painting & Photography at the Jaipur Court, edited by Giles Tillotson & Mrinalini Venkateswaran

Global Textile Encounters is a fascinating journey into three significant textiles and clothing cultures: China, India and Europe. The common thread is how fashions and traditions have traveled through space and time. In this richly illustrated anthology, with its 242 images, written both by textile researchers and practitioners as well as scholars from other fields across the globe, we hear of various types of encounters that bring to life a world of interactions and consequences as colorful as the textiles themselves. Among the 33 contributions we learn of an historian of ancient Roman textiles who has an intellectual epiphany in the streets of modern Iran; of 17th-century European Jesuits spreading the Gospel in Asia who attire themselves in the clothing suitable to their host countries; a visiting Siamese delegation that unwittingly creates fashion in 18th-century France;; how Chinese textile technology changed as a result of encountering textile patterns along the silk road; how political messages are conveyed in the sari; how Maharajahs inspired global pop culture; and the value we ascribe to old clothing. Recurrent themes include how religious praxis is informed by textile encounters; how traveling textiles enable patterns and symbols to be copied onto stone and metals; and textile motifs that acquire other symbolic meanings in their travels and encounters with different societies. This sensibly priced, highly readable paperback, edited by three eminent textile scholars from Europe, China and India, is aimed at the interested general public and students. A Chinese version will be published by Donghua University Press in China.

A lavishly illustrated volume of Pakistani textiles of extraordinary colour and vibrancy from one of the most arid areas on Earth. The Flowering Desert: Textiles from Sindh focuses on a private collection of textiles from Sindh, Pakistan, which, according to some scholars, was the crucible in which the textile traditions of Gujarat and Rajasthan were forged. Sindhi textiles are unique inasmuch as they reflect a dimension that combines the harshness of the terrain with a quest for a mythical and unattainable beauty. The collection is recognized as being of outstanding merit and some of it has featured in exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. In addition to sumptuous reproductions of 120 remarkable objects the book includes contextual photographs of textiles in use.

* This meticulously researched book traces the history of Phulkari through the ages, with over 350 pictures that bring to life the nearly lost craft * It shares instances of revival and innovation, and narrates the robustness with which Phulkari has re-entered the imagination of designers * The book is a source of inspiration for enterprising students of craft, institutions teaching art, craft, culture and history, as also a befitting tribute to a distinct cultural tradition. To a connoisseur of Phulkari embroidery, it is a mystique! Every stitch once placed on the fabric tells a story, a story that comes crafted in emotions taking the form of motifs. Phulkari from Punjab: Embroidery in Transition is the outcome of the authors' quest in search of these stories, their sojourns to the villages and by lanes of Punjab that are home to this form of craft. Meticulously researched, with text and pictures that bring to life the nearly lost craft, the book traces the history of Phulkari through the ages: the craft, the decline, the revival. It highlights the agonies of lost finesse and compulsions of commoditization that the practitioners of the art shared with the authors. And on a positive note, it shares instances of revival and innovation, narrates the robustness with which Phulkari has re-entered the imagination of designers. The book is not a mere chronicle of Phulkari embroidery but a lived experience that spanned over seven years. Stitch craft and its depiction is only one aspect of the narratives; while the canvas inter alia encapsulates rituals that sustain traditions, markets that process the craft, connoisseurs eager to conserve and institutions responsible for its sustenance. The book is a source of inspiration for enterprising students of craft, institutions teaching art, craft, culture and history as also a befitting tribute to a distinct cultural tradition. It offers glimpses of India's heritage and diverse treasure trove in the field of textile craft.

This is the first reference work to describe the history of embroidery throughout Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau and the Indian Subcontinent from the medieval period through to the present. It offers an authoritative guide to all the major embroidery traditions of the region and a detailed examination of the material, technical, artistic and design dimensions of the subject, including its use by today's fashion designers. For millennia, the peoples of Central Asian, the Iranian Plateau and the Indian Subcontinent have migrated and traded along the multiple strands of the Silk Road, both north-south and east-west. This history of contact has found rich expression within the arts and crafts of the region and particularly in the heritage of embroidery which has sat at the heart of the social and cultural lives of these diverse communities. Embroidery has been produced to decorate individuals, their families, their clients, their homes and public spaces and has reflected economic and political changes over time as well as social, religious and artistic contexts. Generously illustrated with 500 images (over 450 in colour) of clothes, accessories, and examples of decorated soft furnishings such as cushions, bed linen, curtains, floor coverings and wall hangings, the Encyclopedia is an essential resource for students and scholars of the subject. This volume is the second in the Bloomsbury World Encyclopedia of Embroidery series. The first volume, on embroidery from the Arab World, won the 2017 Dartmouth Medal, awarded by the American Library Association for a reference work of outstanding quality and significance.