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Fragment of Mawa' or Ma'a (Sacred Heirloom Textile)

A work made of cotton, plain weave; block printed resist and mordeant dyed.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of cotton, plain weave; block printed resist and mordeant dyed.

Date:

late 14th or 15th century

Artist:

India, Gujarat

About this artwork

Textiles were the primary Indian goods traded for southeast Asian spices ultimately destined for European markets. This fragment is among the oldest extant Indian textiles found in southeast Asia. Made in Gujarat for the Indonesian market, it has been radiocarbon-dated to between 1382 and 1502. The pattern features a block-printed image arranged horizontally along the textile’s length, repeated without regard for vertical alignment in seven and a half rows. The repeat consists of a seated male figure with three attendant figures of lesser scale, the group is complemented by small geese and vegetal or perhaps architectural elements. The main figure may be a Jain sage, and indeed the three-quarter profile view and the so-called protruding eye do provide a link to the Jain painting tradition seen in Gujarati manuscripts dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Trade cloths such as this have not survived in India, where they may have originally functioned as ceremonial hangings or backdrops. In Indonesia such cloths were treasured as heirlooms, preserved and handed down for use as banners and architectural decoration during thanksgiving ceremonies.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Textiles

Title

Fragment of Mawa' or Ma'a (Sacred Heirloom Textile)

Place

India (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1377–1499

Medium

Cotton, plain weave; block printed resist and mordeant dyed

Dimensions

121.9 × 94.5 cm (48 × 37 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Belle M. Borland Estate; Marie Walters Endowment Fund; The Christa C. Mayer Thurman Textile Endowment

Reference Number

2011.271

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/212379/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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