Chintz strip

Chintz textiles like this - cotton fabrics with repeat designs applied by hand and brush, or woodblock, fixed with dyeing- were made throughout the Indian peninsula, from the Coromandel Coast and Gujarat to, subsequently, Tamil Nadu. Europeans admired their fastness of color, as well as their bright palettes and elegant patterning, resulting in a significant export business. Possibly assembled to function as a runner, entre-fenêtre, or part of a set of bed hangings, this modest example was achieved using a woodblock set with brass pins to create the grid element. The application of the pins, sometimes in their thousands, was traditionally considered women’s work, whereas the painting of the design was conveniently men’s work. Over this printed grid and foliate outlines, the foliage was rendered by painting in blue indigo, over which yellow was applied, predating as it does the invention of colorfast green dyes.