Final project, The Pazyryk Rug

THE HISTORY OF THE PAZYRYK CARPET AND TRACING ITS ROOTS

Carpet weaving is an art dating back many centuries and it is known to have originated in Persia. The Pazyryk carpet discovered in 1949 is said to be the oldest surviving carpet to be found. It is a very important piece in the study of carpets and tracing back their history and roots.

Upon looking at different cultural influences and trade with Persia, we see how carpet weaving grew and evolved within Persia and spread across the globe, taking new shape and identity in each country. The knotting technique was and is continued to be practiced globally, but the motifs and designs used have changed and now represent the history, culture and religion of each place.

The piece I have made is inspired by the various motifs and colours used in various carpets across the world; some Persian, some Chinese, some Turkish. It is accompanied by a concise research paper tracing back the history and origin of carpet weaving through cultural exchange and trade over many centuries.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6758488243835178856#editor/target=post;postID=6932873190412136705;onPublishedMenu=overview;onClosedMenu=overview;postNum=3;src=postname

A few stories to read

This is the link to Ritika Mittal's blog, a textile designer. I thought it would be interesting to share it with all of you. Do read the stories of her travel and interaction with different tribes.
http://ritikamittal.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/kedot-tsuloh-sitting-together-by-chance/

Carpets and symbolism- with Carl

In our session with Carl, he discussed with us the relevance of carpets within paintings. We looked at how Renaissance paintings and baroque paintings help in tracing back dates with reference to studying carpets.

The European artists made no attempt to de-Islamisize the carpets that they used within their paintings, even though the Islamic world and the European world weren’t on the best terms.

One theory states that the carpet symbolizes a trophy, after the Islamic world was conquered by the European world. But why were carpets used and not other objects? One reason could be that carpet weaving was an ancient and expensive artform that was significant to the Islamic world and it showed materialistic wealth.

How did different cultures utilize carpets? (By looking at and studying paintings)

As prayer mats, for social interaction, feasts, etc.

In the west they carpets were used to show status within the society. And in the east, it was almost sacred and poetic. But the person of importance always sat upon the carpet in both style of paintings.

I understood a lot of what Carl was saying when I did my research for the final project; understanding trade, cultural exchange, symbolism, etc.

THE PAZYRYK RUG AND TRACING ITS ROOTS

THE HISTORY OF THE PAZYRYK CARPET AND TRACING ITS ROOTS

THE PAZYRYK CARPET

The pazyryk carpet is the oldest known surviving carpet in the world. It was found by a team of Russian archaeologists headed by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in 1949. The exceptional Pazyryk carpet was discovered among the ices of Pazyryk Valley, in The Altai Mountains in Siberia.. The carpet was found in the grave of a Scythian prince. Radiocarbon testing indicated that the Pazyryk carpet was woven in the 5th century BC. The dimension is 1.83X2m, and it has 36 symmetrical knots per cm2.

The design is made up of concentric squares separated by various borders. The central panel is made up of what is assumed to be symbols that represent the sun. This is surrounded by a border of winged griffins, which then in turn surrounded by another border filled with antlered deer. There is then a small border of abstract floral motifs, which is then followed by a border of horses being alternately led and ridden by their riders. This border has the horses travelling in the opposite direction to that of the earlier antlered deer, there is then a final border of winged griffins which then completes the rug.[1]

Griffins are generally used to represent guardians for life/afterlife. Stags represent wisdom and long life. The rug shows the use of high technical skill and would have probably been very precious. One theory says that it was made for the Prince and the symbols used were particularly chosen to wish him well.

The Pazyryk carpet was thought, by its discoverer, to be a product of the Achamenids.. Currently, whether it is a nomadic product with Achaemenid influence or a product of the Achaemenids remains the subject of debate. Historical records show that the Achaemenian court of Cyrus the Great at Pasargade was decked with magnificent carpets. This was over 2,500 years ago, while Persia was still in a weak alliance with Alexander the Great. Alexander II of Macedonia is said to have been dazzled by the carpets in the tomb area of Cyrus the Great at Pasargade.[2]

The intricacy and advanced level of carpet weaving indicates that the art of carpet weaving originated atleast 1000-2000 years before that. The origins of the Pazyryk carpet is still a matter of scholastic debate.

 

The possible origin and development of the craft

Very little is known about the history of rugs until the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries from which Seljuk examples found in various Turkish mosques have survived, nearly all now in museums or private collections.The art of knotted carpet weaving has spread all over the world and this has proved to be a hindrance in solving the mystery of its origin. The Middle East is called the cradle of carpet weaving because there are strong evidences of carpet weaving from the 2^nd and 3^rd BC found there. People migrating to areas from Turkestan to the west, the Caucasus, Persia, Anatolia, to the east to China, and then later to India, extended this art form to the natives of these places. Moreover, this complete range of locations is known as the Oriental Carpet Belt. The western weavers were influenced with the Oriental motifs, primarily Sassanian origin. However, there was a progressive enrichment by difficult blend of Asiatic, early Byzantine, Christian and Islamic cultures.

Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant and traveller, while travelling through Turkey said, “They weave the choicest and the most beautiful carpet in the world. They also weave silk fabrics of crimson and other colors, of great beauty and richness, and many other kinds of cloth.” He added greatly to the fact that it all flourished in the Islamic culture that he perceived, during his world expedition.[3]

After the period of domination and control by the Arab Caliphates, Persia was conquered by the Turkish Seljuks. The Seljuks were sensitive to all arts and hence their domination was of great importance in the history of Persian carpets. Their womenfolk, were skillful carpet makers , using Turkish knots. In the provinces of Azerbaijan and Hamdan where Seljuk influence was strongest and the longest lasting, the Turkish knot is used to this day. [4]

Carpet designs depicted by miniature paintings belonging to the Timurid era lend proof to the development of this industry during the Seljuk rule. There is also another miniature painting of that time available which depicts the process of carpet weaving. Oriental carpets in renaissance paintings from Europe are often given detailed depictions that help fill in gaps in the record of actual surviving carpets.[5]

13^th century Seljuk carpet

Persia was later ruled by the Mongols and they picked up the art of carpet weaving. The palace of Tabriz, belonging to the leader Ghazan Khan (1295 - 1304) who was the last Mongol leader to be converted to Islam, had paved floors covered with carpets.

The accession to power of the Safavid rulers is of great importance in the history of Persian carpets. Moreover, it is from this period that the first concrete proofs of this craft are dated. In fact, about 1,500 examples from this period are preserved in various museums and in private collections. 

Trade and cultural exchange

Egypt
Carpets of high quality were produced in large numbers in Egypt. they were unique and hence traded off to other places, mostly to the east. The earliest forms of carpets displayed geometric designs. Persian and Anatolian designs spread to cairo after they spread to Istanbul.the weavings in cairo greatly resembled the ones in eastern Turkistan. Usually woven with wool, Egyptian carpets and rugs are tied with asymmetrical or Ghiordes knots. Motifs like a palmette on the red background of a carpet, etc.

China
Chinese carpets are quite a standout among the rest of the types of carpet styles of the world, especially their motifs and conservative colour choices. Chinese carpets include floral as well as geometric patterns whose inspiration comes from the natural world, ancient local myths, Buddhism, and Taoism. The blend does not create any confusion but a distinct style that is even handed as well as graceful. For instance, with a central medallion accompanied with four corner medallions. Mythical flowers, animals, are also grouped together, generally in a circle with precision.  Intriguingly, every symbol carries a peculiar meaning with it that is not simple to decipher. However, the style is very different from the Islamic countries. 
Astonishingly, carpet weaving in China was not a greatly accepted artwork until around the later half of 1700, much after than any other Oriental carpet weaving location. Two of the reasons behind can be the scarcity of wool in China and the showcase of the Chinese aesthetic works that reflected the refinement and calligraphic perfection of which they were demur. [6]



Turkey
Anatolian or Turkish carpets are overall inspired from their local culture and tradition. The carpets all inspired from the Islamic culture display ancient layouts with a blend or repetition of simple or geometric figures or symbols. The Seljuk rulers introduced the art of carpet weaving to Anatolians during their invasion in 1100. They came from Turkestan and dominated Asia Minor until 1299. 
The colour palette seen in the Turkish carpet includes shades like red, blue, yellow, and warm shades in common. The Turkish knot also belongs to the same geographical area imitated by all carpet weaving countries on the globe.

18^th century carpet with Memling Gul design

The Mongolian inspiration

The ancient Mongolian carpet weaving was certainly borrowed from the Persian land. The Altai nomads of Siberia are responsible for maintaining the cultural as well as trading links with the south and east in China, East Turkestan, Tibet. The Mongols boasted a great collection of beautiful pile carpets too apart from Mughal India and Safavid Iran.

 The carpets obtained from the central part of the Asian continent, say China, Mongolia, Armenia, etc., Mongolia is one such country that displays a unique combination of the various forms of foreign decoration forms and motifs. Mongols were said to have woven the finest lot of carpets.

So we see the growth and change of the art of carpet weaving as different groups of people succeeded Persia. They brought with them influences and practices from their countries through culture and religion (Islamic patterns- floral and geometric patterns). Even the materials used were influenced by succession by culturally different communities(silk from China during the silk trade). During the Seljuk period, the carpet weaving industry boomed and gave rise to a widely and heavily practiced art.

Through trade we see how the art of carpet weaving spread to other countries. In some countries there is still a heavy Persian influence in the style developed by them. But the original Persian style evolved and changed as people brought in new patterns and designs relevant to their culture and identity. The Persian patterns and designs lost relevance in their countries and new unique styles of carpet designs were born. (Chinese carpets have no trace of Persian designs anymore, even though the concept of carpet weaving was brought to them by the Mongols from Persia. they changed and evolved to include patterns and designs that were influenced by the culture and religious practices of China.)

References:

[1] http://thetextileblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/pazyryk-rug.html

[2],[5]-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_carpet

[4]http://www.persian-carpet.info/

[3] http://www.carpetandrugpedia.com/Carpet-History.htm

[6] http://www.carpetandrugpedia.com/Carpet-History.htm

http://www.w-ch-klose.de/html/pazyryk_carpet.html

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_2_7d.html

http://www.claremontrug.com/educational-center/rugtypes/caucasian3.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_carpet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_carpet

ICONOGRAPHY OF DRAUPADI

Today’s culture, our ethics have become a tradition as a result of perseverance and dedicated adherence. To such an extent that we don’t even question its relevance and the reasons behind such practices. The true inspiration behind such doing is mythology. It has turned into a give and take relationship. The morals from the stories helped us become civilized. And later, after progressive advancements, we started interpreting these stories in our own ways so that we could tweak the morals according to what we were looking for. According to what was acceptable then.

As we discussed in almost all our lectures, clothes are like the trailers to what the civilization was like, in which they were worn. Be it the intention behind griff rhys’ film hidden treasures of Indian art which narrates how clothes of rabari women reveal their marital status or the khadi movement that turned the cloth into a uniform of rebellion. And after it solved the purpose, people reinterpreted the essence and said that it is the clothing for intellectuals, the forward thinkers who do not believe in ornamentation. Then there is denim, which transformed from being clothing for working class to something that erased segregation by caste.

I saw instances of identity transformation like these in mythological stories. They say that god is one. He/ she just transforms from one form to the other. For instance, clothing transformed pelt clad Shiva into silken robed Vishnu. Puranic goddess shakti alternates between naked and ferocious kali and bedecked and bejeweled gauri. It is said that the disrobing of draupadi symbolized change of civilizations. She moves from fields to forest and hence, from gauri to kali.

Fascinated by such conjectures, I decided to follow this identity transformation through clothing. But, transformations through interpretations. What was even more captivating for me, was, that despite having a somewhat prescribed depiction of her character, draupadi has had innumerable avatars over the years. Contrary to the ideology that it is those distinct features of the personality that make us relate to the person. In her case we were changing the features itself to match the situations. The reasons were many, was the true depiction socially acceptable? Did it match the whims of the emperor who had commissioned the depiction through painting? How did people who were not familiar with the way of living prescribed in the stories respond to the character? How can we bereft these stories of our ever-growing astuteness!

Therefore, I picked different depictions of draupadi during vastraharan, through paintings to show how they give us a peek into the way of living of that time period.

It began with the time closest to when Mahabharata came into being, somewhere around 3000 B.C. during Vedic times. The first character that I made was according to the sculptures of elephanta caves. This was also the closest to how it was described in the epic. She wore a loosely tied single piece of cloth with urna’s sutra and jewelry, just like the aryans did. Cotton clothes and skins of goats and spotted deer were prevalent during those times and were hence mentioned in the Vedas. Silk was only discovered between 3000 and 4000 B.C. Only yellow red and blue dyes were available during those times. The next one, from the medieval period, is probably out of the archives of the akbarnama, a visual narrative of events from his life. It was commissioned by Akbar himself done by abul fazl, one of the nine jewels of his court. The third volume called the Ain-i-Akbari contains some depictions of the stories from Mahabharata

 
Inspired by the art of Persia, fazl modified the depictions so the muslims could understand. Possibly akbar’s prejudices also governed how it looked. The next version is the most important one. Because of training under a british painter called Theodore Jenson, Raja Ravi Varma’s rendition is a fusion of Indian and European realism.Done in 1873, this painting was commissioned by Sayaji Pao Gaekwad, the maharaja of Baroda as a part of recreating a number of mythological scenes in their essence. Ravi Varma traveled all around the country sketching and finally recreated the imagery of a traditional Indian woman who was curvy and buxom as described by Beepanjana Pal, author of the book “ The painter: A life of Ravi Varma”. The image was a composite of what he saw and considered superior in beauty. The skin color was taken from north India, sari was draped in the maharashtrian style and the jewelry was from south. Contrary to the fact that the epic states that she was dark skinned and wore a single piece of cloth. Stitched garments were not even introduced during those times and the draping of sari, as we see in the painting, came about only during the Indus Valley civilization.  This time period also saw the advent of chromolithography. And, the most effective way of advertising was by putting an image of god on and making the product sacred! So, Ravi Varma’s version was being printed on everything and everywhere. It was widely accepted, because for the first time, every part of the country was looking at the same image when relating to the deities. Hence, these prints started reflecting how draupadi must look and became the base for the versions to come.
 The painting by an ISCKON artist, named Jadurani Dasi in 1986, inspires the fourth image. She has never lived in India and therefore has her own western take on the imagery. Draupadi has never been depicted in a white sari in India for it is only for the widows. Another reason why it was considered inappropriate for her to wear white at the time was because she was menstruating when the vastraharan happened.

Finally, the last image is from the painting by M.F. Hussain. He has captured the image quite appropriately, but he too has given it a new perspective. Unlike other depictions, draupadi is not a damsel in distress. The clothing is similar, but because of how the society works and thinks today, he has covered the bosom so that the depiction does not look vulgar, despite the fact that women did not wear anything on the upper torso. Yet, his painting was criticized for being disrespectful to our goddess. Another aspect that I found interesting is that he depicts draupadi in shades of grey if we think about it, Mahabharata was given to us orally. So we cannot truly picture what exactly was the color of her skin and clothes and so he has left it to our imagination.

There have been many more depictions through many different media, B.R Chopra’s Tv series, Shyam Benegal’s film called Kalyug, Grant Morison’s comic called 18 days, and many more. However, fascinated by Carl’s lecture, I decided to take up paintings to trace the changes.

Ethiopian cloth reading

The Ethiopian cloth that was given to us was manufactured by an organization called Sabahar, an Ethiopian company that produces handwoven textiles to wear.

The cloth was a scarf made of Ethiopian silk and cotton with traditional tibeb design on the ends. Yoas Tibeb is a popular clothing company of Ethiopia, meaning ‘gift of god’ in Hebrew. The designs were probably inspired from the traditional netela cloth. The scarf does not have a fringe in the end so that both, men and women can wear it.

Silk is only 12 years old in Ethiopia. There are mere three large-scale farms producing silk in Ethiopia with some rural households that have started producing silk for the sake of diversification and an addtition to their family income.

Ethiopia produces eri silk, different from the much known mulberry silk. The difference being that eri cocoons donot have a continuous filament and have to be spun. This is much desirable for many women of Ethiopia who know how to spin a thread thanks to an ancient tradition. The eri silk worms feed on castor leaves that grow abundantly in Ethiopia. Sabahar also imports some mulberry silk from India and Uganda and mix it with the locally produced eri silk.

Cotton is grown abundantly all over the country. However, because of inadequate rainfall, the cultivation greatly depends on efficiency of irrigation. Cotton is the fifth largest agricultural product of Ethiopia.

The cloth has been dyed naturally from locally resourced materials. Though the skills of natural dyeing are becoming obsolete, Sabahar is attempting to rekindle the tradition. The light brown color of the given cloth could be a result of three different kinds of natural dyes. One is, of course, the famous Ethiopian coffee. It could also be a heartwood of a small thorny tree called Acacia called Cutch which is usually used to get different shades of brown. This tree grows in tropical regions. A very popular source of dyes is madder plant, whose roots are used to dye the reds and plant tops are used to dye beiges and browns.

Women have been spinning cotton on drop spindles for centuries now. This ability to spin very fine and consistent cotton greatly influenced how ‘marriageable’ the girl was.

I appreciate the intentions of the organization and strongly believe that something like this is much needed in our country also. We must support the local artisans and not let their art die. We must help them to make everyone realize how much these skills are worth and need to be cherished and not be manipulated by the middlemen.

Khadi

“Her material and moral sustenance came from two sources: the material from Nehru’s confident India and the moral from Gandhi’s ethics.”

This statement at the very beginning of the book, Gandhi’s Khadi written by Rahul Ramagundam, tends to establish a barrier between radical progressive development and morality. The same ideology as demonstrated by E.F. Schumacher in his paper, Buddhist economics. A modernist economist must transform into a Buddhist economist, if one wishes to incorporate morality into a conventional way a nation works.

It was the cultural conviction and material aspirations that served as inspiration to the Indians to turn a mere commodity into a political symbol of assertion and independence. Khadi turned out to be one of the mainstream developmental departments of the independent India. Ramagundam puts across the essence of khadi through some of these beautiful phrases.

 Gandhi’s approach was simple and effective. Khadi movement was the first movement that put issues of the masses, poverty and livelihood rights into the forefront, and managed to bring innumerable diverse ethnicities together to fight against the British. He took a simple issue, relatable to every common man. They came to buy, and remained to sell. So Gandhi took the machine-made cloth, produced in bulk that was flooding the Indian markets and replaced it back with the simple, manually spun and woven, khadi. If we think about it, we can relate to the nucleus of the movement till today. Ultimately, if the British didn’t, the striving for westernization did take the best from us. When I say this, I am not completely disregarding all the progress we have made. But, in that rat race, we lost a lot of culture. The classic example is the silk handloom industries at the brim of extinction. Our thumbs were cut off and now the skill is about to be lost.

The production of khadi, solved a dual purpose. It brought everyone together to fight against independence and was a provision of supplementary work for the idle and underemployed. It was practical, subsidized production and a source of income! All they needed was the mental revolution. A perfect amalgamation of religious values and economic progress, which is a preamble to adopting Buddhist economic approach.

Wearing khadi was like a cathartic transformation. One could wear khadi and change affiliations. Bernard Cohn called it a “uniform of rebellion”. Khadi became a token of coalition. Though it was an instrumental visual element that got together the diverse cultures, that even found it hard to communicate, it was creating, unknowingly, a divide. It was probably the pioneer of division of society through class. Even today, we judge what class a person belongs to by looking at their clothes. After talking to my father and grandmother about their notions of khadi, I could see it coming. For the grandparents, it was symbolic of a revolution and autonomy. And, for my father, it was like donning the identity of an intellectual; the jhola and khadi look bereft of superficial ornamentation was the ornamental value of this piece of textile. The value addition helped mask the fact that it is was cheap. Later on, it appealed to all politicians and then crept into fashion, when designers were looking for something more than mere ornamentation.

The only explanation to all these overwhelming thoughts is that every coin has two sides. When the Nehruvian economy prevailed over Gandhi’s, it only left the latter’s ideologies as an alternative modernity. But people referred to it as ‘an old man’s fad’. Similarly, khadi, was a revolution, that bought us our independence but did create a divide. Buddhist economy may seem like the right way to go in text, but can definitely be an obstacle in hardcore progression that sometimes needs us to be crude and not sentimentally pristine all the time!

Reading of Cloth

 

This is a Coptic tapestry in the archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was found in Egypt and is from somewhere between year 300 and 499. It is made entirely of wool.

As I doused into the textile history of Egypt, I found that this is only a fragment of textile and belongs to the Byzantine era of Constantine, from 395 to 641. The Coptic tapestries of 4^th and 5^th centuries depicted mythical figures with allegorical references to religion. Romans and Greeks extensively influenced Egypt, for it was first a province of Rome and then of the Greek Byzantines. For both the Pharaonic Egyptians and the Greeks, clothing was suggestive of the social and economic status, and was ubiquitous to the social strata for the Romans. The copts wore tunics made of plain wool or linen and were adorned with narrow bands, called clavi (singular: clavus) that extended downwards from the shoulders, pairs of bands on the sleeves, and square, oval or round tapestry inserts on the shoulders and lower front.

                                                                             

The Clavi were decorated and generally purple. However, the Byzantines made new regulations to restrict the use of opulent elements like silk, purple dyes and gold thread to the imperial classes. The lower classes made imitations of their imperial styles, like dyeing red over blue to make imitation purple. It is clearly evident that the ornamental border was cut out and reused on a relatively newer piece of cloth, and is not made of silk but wool, this piece could belong to someone from a lower group. Also, the dye is not a purple but brownish, which could be a result of dyeing red over a darker blue. The dyes were derived from madder, indigo, saffron, the murex shell, and the kermes insect.

Around 300 BCE, sheep were imported from India and China. But Egyptians did not use wool because it was considered ritually unclean and therefore linen was used. However, wool became common during the time of Roman conquest around 30 BCE. Romans preferred wool and also, it was easier to dye. Linen had to be soaked in an acidic mordant for it to take on color hence it may be costlier and was preferred by the owner despite the hot weather conditions. This is another evidence to the fragment belonging to a lower class dweller.

The cloth piece was excavated and found in such a facile state because of the burial practices and dry climate of Egypt. The deceased buried fully clothed in decorative ceremonial tapestries in the dry hot sands of Upper Egypt lead to efficient preservation of the textiles through the ages.

 Hence the cloth fragment must be an ornament to a burial clavus.

With the Byzantine Empire coming into reign, allowed for trade routes extend further. During this period, Egypt got its raw silk from China through Syria and an extension of Silk Road called the Persian Royal Road.

The 4^th and the 5^th centuries are evident of upcoming ornamental variations with naturalistic representations of birds, flowers, fruits, and mythological figures brought back by Egyptian weavers studying in Persia.

Another vindictive factor that this is a burial cloth is the motif of the bird in the centre.  Birds have numerous meanings in Coptic funerary art. This is because it is difficult to recognize the kind of bird considering the stylized nature of depictions. The bird, plausibly, is an eagle, that guards the door to paradise. It could also symbolize the “Christ who takes the Christian captive to heavens as the eagle carried its prey.” The foliage at the back represents paradise.

 The plant with three leaves, in the front, could be symbolic of the Ansate Cross or Ankh that was adopted by the Coptic Church of Egypt. The symbol of cross is an old Egyptian hieroglyph meaning life. The symbol is also a key to unlock hidden mysteries of the kingdom of dead and was often used in the funeral rites. It also represents the tree of life with its trunk and foliage.

 In Egyptian Mythology, a particular sycamore tree was a gateway between life and death.

The Greco-Roman clavi, often comprise of elements indicating hopes for assistance from the gods in the afterlife. The Coptic clavi, also known as the stelae, translated similar ideologies into a more Christian oriented format, still keeping the Greco-Roman elements applicable, when required. The most common instance is the use of the architectural border. This design is picked up from the architectural borders of a temple, possibly aiming to signify ‘house of gods’, that is, hoping to find a home in the afterlife. This is reinforced, also true in this case, by depicting foliage around the architectural frame that represents paradise.

During the Byzantine era, Agroup of Christian mosaics, also known as the Byzantine mosaics were created in ancient Syria, Palestine and Egypt and Jeruselum, probably had the maximum number of mosaic covered churches.

The ‘Armenian Mosaic’ is the most important, and was discovered near the Damascus gate (the main entrance to the old city of Jeruselum). It depicts a vine with many branches and grape clusters that spring out of a vase. It has an inscription that reads: “For the memory and salvation of all those Armenians whose name the Lord knows." , which means that the room was used to remember the dead and was a mortuary chapel.

This can be seen in the tapestry above, which is very similar to the Armenian Mosaic, but has a similar border as the textile fragment being talked about.

Egypt was constantly trading with the Ethiopians through Nile and its tributaries, justifying a possibility for major Diaspora. Therefore, one explanation to the emergence of such a pattern for the border could also be through the depiction of Harag, which, in Ethiopian bible means tendril of a climbing plant depicted s lines interlaced in a geometrical pattern which was also used to frame a page in the Ethiopian manuscript.

History of Denim

Which piece of clothing is the most indispensable part of everyone’s wardrobe? Something that 70% of the population is wearing in college today? Something that you don’t need to consciously think about and just ‘put on’ and know for certain that you will blend in?

Denim, today is like an unconsciously adopted uniform, for it is hard to segregate and categorize someone into a particular section of society if they are wearing a simple pair of jeans. It is the modern day khadi. It is the fabric that represents honest hard work and the expression of angry rebellion.

In 1969, a writer for American fabrics magazine declared, “Denim is one of the world’s oldest fabric, yet it remains eternally young”. However, as far as its history is concerned, one explanation is that ‘denim’ is an English corruption of the French ‘serge de Nimes’. Meaning, a durable twilled woolen or worsted fabric from the town of Nimes in France. However, ‘serge de Nimes’ was also known in England before the end of 17^th century. Hence the dilemma of whether it was imported from France or was it an English fabric with a same name? But then again, it is common human nature to zhuzh up their products by attaching the geographical location to the names for it sounds more prestigious. Another perplexing fact is that serge de Nimes was made of silk and wool, but denim has always been made of cotton. to befuddle facts even more, there also existed, at this same time, another fabric known as “jean” that originated in Genoa. It was much sought after and imported into England in large quantities during the 16th century. Denim also began to be well received. It was stronger and costlier. One major difference between these two cloths was that denim was made of one colored and one white thread whereas jeans was woven out of two threads of same color. During the 19^th century America, they were also used very differently. Fine trousers were made in blue jean and overalls and trousers made for work were offered in blue and fancy denim. The latter offered both comfort and durability.

The whole notion of denims and its identity today is because of Levi Strauss. Bearing his original family name, LOEB, He went to San Francisco to carry on his family business when he began the legendary LS&CO. however all the data was lost in the great san Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. For decades, the story ran like this: Levi Strauss arrived in San Francisco, and noticed that miners needed strong, sturdy pants. So he took some brown canvas from the stock of dry goods supplies he brought with him from New York, and had a tailor make a pair of pants. Later, he dyed the fabric blue, then switched to denim, which he imported from Nimes. This story likely arose because evidence had been found of some brown pants made of a heavy material, which the company sold in the 19th century. By the 1920s, Levi’s waist overalls were the leading product in men’s work pants in the Western states. During 1930s they caught the attention of the west. Authentic cowboys were seen wearing Levi’s jeans and were cognizing the life of independence and rugged individualism. 1940s were the times of war. American soldiers took their favorite pairs of denim pants overseas thanks to their comfort and sturdiness. As a result, denim pants became less associated with work wear and more associated with the leisure activities of prosperous post-war America. Also women, who started wearing their husbands' (suitably altered) trousers while they took on jobs previously assigned to men, during World War I, increasingly wore trousers as leisurewear in the 1920s and 30s. Levi Strauss & Co. created the first women's jeans in 1934, called Lady Levi's, but they were only for women to wear on dude ranches or on vacation. It still wasn't acceptable for women to be seen in public in jeans.

 Wearing jeans everyday was still not widely accepted, because of its association with the bad boy image. Around 1950s, many school administrators banned wearing of denim in the classroom, fearing that the mere presence of denim on a teenager’s body would cause him to rebel against authority in all of its forms.

1957 the company ran an advertisement in a number of newspapers all over the U.S, which showed a clean-cut young boy wearing Levi’s jeans. The ad contained the slogan, “Right For School.” This ad outraged many parents and adults in general. One woman in New Jersey wrote, “While I have to admit that this may be ‘right for school’ in San Francisco, in the west, or in some rural areas I can assure you that it is in bad taste and not right for School in the East and particularly New York...Of course, you may have different standards and perhaps your employees are permitted to wear Bermuda shorts or golf togs in your office while transacting Levi’s business!” But by late 1960s Levi’s jeans had flooded into the European and Asian markets.

It then caught the eye of designers and gradually began to be accepted till today, when it has become like the second skin for every single human.

The art of deduction

A piece of textile can be like a wearable biography. Especially in Indian culture. The class, the ideals, marital status, it tells you everything. Carl’s detailed lecture about the carpets in paintings and their symbolism is the perfect alibi. The silk trade, unknowingly, was facilitating trade of most precious treasures, cultures. And the motifs and patterns on these carpet paintings that were probably inspired from the carpets the artists’ saw, were the only means to track this virtual barter.

 It reminds me of the art of deduction that Sherlock holmes used to solve cases. What the outside world doesn’t know is that us Indians are pros at this art. Our cultures have prescribed certain clothes for certain kinds of people.  And it has been dinned into us to read these clothes, as if they were traffic signals, designed to help us drive our lives on the right paths.

This is exactly what Griff Rhys Jones’ quest was about. It all started with the reading of a cloth kept in Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire for over 300 years. This led to him travel to Gujarat and make a film called Hidden treasures of Indian Art.

He called Gujarat the Manchester of India. Talked about the beautiful ari embroidery and its idiosyncratic quality of not being done with a needle and that that it is done by cobblers.

What was interesting to note was that there is an explanation to every cloth that was made. The colors, the motifs, the material used. A particular set of designs was reserved for the unmarried girls and some for the married. The widows had a completely different set of clothes. They were ruthlessly branded. Among the Rabari tribe women, embroidery was a vital source of livelihood. They spend a lifetime embroidering wedding trousseaus, which is symbolic of their creativity, aesthetics and even a form of dowry sometimes. They have a particular time, dedicated in each day, meant only and only for embroidery. However, since it demands such meticulous work and time, and does not pay much, this art is now dying.

Unfortunate, but sounds like a recurring theme in all the talks we have had in this class. There is a desperate need for patronizing and encouragement.  This is what has attracted the world. It is our most beloved treasure. If mr. Griff can see it, why can’t we?

Another thing that bothers me is the segregation system. It is the most unnecessary ornamentation. Rather the only form, which I am whole-heartedly against. This kind of segregation can also be seen in one of the very popular sitcoms called Balika Vadhu. The widowed maa-sa wears a completely different color palette, motifs and jewelry compared to the married women of the house. The movie Dor, also paints the transformation of life and look of the daughter-in-law of the family before and after the death of her husband. It looks as if all this is done so the entire world knows that she is a widow. She is literally treated like a commodity. And thanks to the clothes she is made to wear, the world knows that they must treat her so.

The married women wear the blouse pleated at the breast. The older women and widows wear plain black with no embroidery.  The outer layer of the dress is a long woolen shawl.  Un married women wear white while the married and the elderly wear brown or black. A young married woman wears a shawl adorned with deep red circular designs, made by the tie-and-dye method. 

The widow's shawl is plain black.  In some regions, Rabari women embellish their shawls with applique work or embroider the centre seam along with mirrors.

It is high time we gouge out the unwanted layers of meanings and let it stay till appreciating the beauty of the art, the only good thing that this system has given us.