Woven Cargoes
Indian Textiles in the East
John Guy
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The dazzlingly varied cloths presented here are a visual record of one of the great untold stories of Asian design history: the trade in Indian textiles to Southeast and East Asia. Outstanding among them are the famous chintzes, and the tie-and-dye silk patola, reserved for rulers and the nobility, as well as textiles designed as diplomatic gifts, as displays on festive occasions and as ceremonial clothing.
Alongside a wealth of illustrations, John Guy examines the fascinating history of the cloth-for-spices trade, focusing on the 17th and 18th centuries when the thousand-year-old trade was at its peak. After describing the techniques of textile production, he then looks in detail at the place of imported cloths in the Malay world, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan.
With beautiful photographs of the vividly coloured and patterned textiles themselves, and first-hand descriptions by travellers and merchants, historic images of people and places, related arts, ethnographic studies, and his own research in the field, John Guy has produced a brilliant account of the Indian textile trade. |
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