Man’s Morning Gown (Banyan or Rock)

Tailored from Indian chintz, the painted pattern of pine trees and prunus blossoms on a red ground consciously imitates the type of pattern that would be found on a Japanese kimono. Unlike most garments tailored from chintz to European requirements, which are cut from lengths of repeat-patterned cottons, this fabric was painted onto cloth shaped expressly to be made into a banyan. The floral borders on the sleeves and front opening are integral to the fabric, not stitched on later. In the late seventeenth century the wearing of a man’s Oriental-style silk morning gown became de rigueur in Europe. The great demand for gowns spurred the commission of painted cotton versions, such as this example, from India’s Coromandel Coast.