Chintz (plural of Hindi word chint - from Sanskrit chitra]) - colourful cloth usually cotton cloth - calico - fastprinted with particloured pattern & usually glazed textiles (initially specifically those imported from India), printed with designs featuring flowers & other patterns in different colours, typically on a light plain background. Since 19th century term also used for style of floral decoration developed in those calico textiles but then used more widely, eg on chintzware pottery & wallpaper. Chintz designs are mostly European patterns loosely derived from style of Indian designs themselves reflecting, via Mughal art, decorative traditions in Islamic art such as the arabesque. Unglazed calico is called cretonne. `Calico` derives from name of Indian city Calicut (Kozhikkode in native Malayalam) to which it had a manufacturing association. In contemporary language chintz and chintzy can be used to refer to clothing or furnishings which are vulgar or florid in appearance. Originally woodblock printed, painted or stained calico produced in India (1600-1800) & popular for bed covers, quilts & draperies. Portuguese & Dutch traders bring examples of Indian chintz into Europe (c. 1600). These early fabrics are extremely expensive & rare. More than a million pieces of chintz are imported (by 1680) into England per year & a similar quantity into France & Dutch Republic. Imported chintz becomes so popular with Europeans (during late 17th century) that French & English mills - being unable to make chintz - grow concerned. French ban (1686) on all chintz imports. Englands Parliament outlaws (1720) the Use and Warings in Apparel of imported chintz, and also its use or Wear in or about any Bed, Chair, Cushion or other Household furniture. French naval officer, M. de Beaulieu, stationed at Pondicherry, India, sends (1734) home letters along with actual samples of chintz fabric during each stage of the process to a chemist friend detailing the dyeing process of cotton chintz. His letters & samples can be seen today in the Muséum national dHistoire naturelle, Paris. Another Frenchman, Father Coeurdoux also supplies (1742) details of chintz making process, while converting Indians to Catholicism. Ban against chintz is lifted (1759). By this time French & English mills are already producing chintz. Europeans at first produce reproductions of Indian designs later adding original patterns, eg toile de Jouy manufactured in Jouy, France (1700-1843). Modern chintz usually consists of bright overall floral patterns printed on a light background but there are some popular patterns on black backgrounds as well. Palampore - type of hand-painted & mordant-dyed bed cover made in India for export market during 18th century & very early 19th century primarily exported to Europe and to Dutch colonists in Indonesia & Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Only wealthiest classes can afford to buy palampore; therefore, few surviving examples are often quite valuable today. Made using the kalamkari technique whereby an artist draws designs on cotton or linen fabric with a kalampen containing mordant & then dipping the textile in dye. The dye adheres to the cloth only where mordant has been applied. This lengthy process is repeated for each colour in the design. Small details are then painted by hand on the cloth after the dying process is completed. Patterns are usually very complex & elaborate, depicting a wide variety of plants, flowers, & animals, including peacocks, elephants & horses. Because a palampore is hand-created, each design is unique. Salampore / Salempore - colored chintz cotton cloth with woven stripe & check design originating from & named after city of Salemporis (or Serampore), south of Kolkota (Calcutta). [Mansell Upham]
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 01:41:20 +0000
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