Another stitch forward in our learning journey, embroideries of India.... Himachal Pradesh is famous for Chamba Rumal embroidery. Rumals made of fine cotton or muslin and are embroidered with silk and sometimes with silver and silver gilt wire. While the painter was employed by the raja and to record important happenings in the court, to paint mythological subjects, to depict the various musical modes and the seasons, the ladies of the court produced the sama motifs with their needles and with an equal amount of skill. They had a ready reference for their work in the murals executed in the rooms and verandahs of their quarters. The ladies reproduced them in their embroidery down to the floral borders. The rumals, handkerchiefs, were used on all festive occasions as a symbol of goodwill and affection. They were presented as gifts and were used for wrapping gifts exchanged at weddings. The figures are finely drawn life like. There is embroidery within embroidery decorated with floral patterns. One of the favourite themes of the Chamba embroiderer were the playful antics of Krishna with Radha and other gopis. Other deities, such as Shiva, Ganesha, Durga, Vishnu, Parvati, Lakshmi, are also shown. In a rumal at the Indian Museum, Calcutta, they are shown attending a marriage. Scenes of battle and hunting are depicted with great imagination and sensitivity. The canvas teems with life via trees, flowering shrubs, animals...giving a tremendous sense of movement to the composition. The embroidery is done in bright and bold—orange, red, black, yellow, ultramarine, purple, pink and green, in small double darning stitches which appear the same on both sides. Outlines and details are worked in double running stitch and sometimes small patterns on costumes and other details are shown in coloured darning stitch. Satin and herringbone stitches, zigzag and interlaced running stitches couching for silver gilt wire, long and short and satin stitches, gross and blanket stitches are also used. The finest rumals are closer to painting than embroidery while the less sophisticated ones have the pattern only on one side and the stitches do not lie so close together. Obviously, craftsmen showing such a high degree of skill are not going to restrain themselves to the production of a single item. Cholis were profusely and beautifully embroidered.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:37:45 +0000