COSTUMES
India: Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad
Sari (woman's)
1957
Plain weave; Printed, hand blocked; Resist dyed, mordant resist
Cotton muslin; Vegetable dye (tumeric); Kalamkari printed cloth
5 yds. 17 1/2 in. x 1 yd. 14 1/2 in. (5.02 x 1.28 m)
Elizabeth Bayley Willis Collection, gift of Virginia and Prentice Bloedel
TC 58.1-598

This sari illustrates the mordant printing technique as practiced in Gujarat. Registration lines or shadows where blocks meet are clearly visible. Two blocks used repetitively build up the patterned field of diagonal chauks (crosses, squares, intersections). Apparent is the repeated use of several blocks to create the bands of the pallu. The bands of butas (large floral designs)are created with a ground stamp for the deep red and a figure stamp for the black outlining. After dyeing and rinsing, the unmordanted areas remain a cream or tan, a characteristic of this mordant technique. -- Label copy for Courtyard, Bazaar Temple: Traditions of Textile Expression in India, Bellevue Art Museum, June 12 to July 25, 1982.