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Dye-Patterned Silk

17th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 899
This multicolored Indian silk made its way to China, where it was used to line the embroidered Chinese coverlet with the dragon center. The pattern was produced by clamp-resist dying—an ingenious technique for producing polychrome textiles. A folded cloth is tightly pressed and clamped between pairs of wooden blocks carved with the desired decorative pattern. Then the whole unit is immersed in a dye bath. Drilled channels in the blocks enable dye to flow into selected areas. Channels for different colors allow dyes to be applied sequentially, as openings are sealed or unsealed for each hue.

cat. no. 2

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Dye-Patterned Silk
  • Date: 17th century
  • Culture: India
  • Medium: Silk (clamp resist, dyed)
  • Dimensions: Mount (a): 96 x 44 in. (243.8 x 111.8 cm)
    Overall (b): 87 1/2 x 35 1/2 in. (222.3 x 90.2 cm)
    Overall (c): 86 x 10 in. (218.4 x 25.4 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Printed
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.208a–c
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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Coverlet, Silk satin, embroidered with silk and gilt-paper-wrapped thread, Chinese, for European market
Coverlet
Chinese, for European market
17th century
Pichhwai for the Festival of Cows, Painted and printed gold and silver leaf and opaque watercolor on indigo-dyed cotton, India, Deccan, Aurangabad (?)
Pichhwai for the Festival of Cows
India, Deccan, Aurangabad (?)
late 18th century
King Tirumala Nayaka in Procession, Cotton, hand-painted mordant-dyed and resist-dyed (kalamkari), India
King Tirumala Nayaka in Procession
India
1640–50
Palampore, Cotton (painted resist and mordant, dyed), India (Coromandel Coast), for the Sri Lankan market
Palampore
India (Coromandel Coast), for the Sri Lankan market
first quarter of the 18th century
Robe (Kosode) with Floral Roundels, Figured satin-weave silk with tie-dyeing, silk embroidery, and couched gold thread, Japan
Robe (Kosode) with Floral Roundels
Japan
ca. 1670s

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