Enquiry about object: 10225
Indian Islamic Carved Wooden Printing Block for Kalamkari-Style Fabrics
India 19th century
width: 23.4cm, length: 16.1cm, thickness: approximately 6.2cm, weight: 967g
Provenance
UK art market
This finely carved wooden printing block is carved with a band of Nasta’liq Arabic script amid a leafy background and within geomtric borders. The reverse is carved with a high central grip contoured so that the fingers can maintain a good hold.
Such a printing block would have been used in India in the 19th century to print cotton textiles, most probably prayer cloths, often destined for Islamic export markets.
Such prayer cloths using the kalamkari techniqe were produced in Machilipatnam (Masulipatam) in Andhra Pradesh state in India for the local Muslim community, and for Islamic export markets which included Persia and Indonesia. (Armenian traders were significant players in this trade at the time.) See an example here.
The printing block has an excellent patina, minimal use-related losses, and obvious age.
References
Barnes, R., S. Cohen, & R. Crill, Trade, Temple & Court: Indian Textiles from the Tapi Collection, India Book House, 2002.
Crill, R., (ed.), The Fabric of India, V&A Publishing, 2015.
Maxwell, R., Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade and Transformation, Periplus, 2003.
Wearden, J., Decorative Textiles from Arab & Islamic Cultures: Selections from the Al Lulwa Collection, Paul Holberton Publishing, 2015.
