Panel from a Mantle or Apron
A distinctive group of Bengal embroideries made between the mid-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth century are embroidered with the yellowish white silk known as tasar, one of several types of the wild (i.e., uncultivated) silk that was abundant in eastern India. They incorporate highly imaginative imagery including sea creatures, mermaids, scenes from the Bible, European figures, animals, and hunters drawn from a mixture of European engravings and local traditions. Several examples include Portuguese coats of arms and must have been made for the Portuguese traders who had settled on the western coast of India, but these embroideries were also prized in England.
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