Persia was the original place from whence came the best patterns and materials; it was really the fountain-head of textile designs, and from thence they spread over Arabia into North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, the patterns being modified according to the popular taste of the different countries and by the introduction of various symbolic features.
Textiles of India.
The textiles of India form an important section of the industrial arts of that country. The materials used in the woven and embroidered fabrics are silk, cotton, wool, hair, coloured grasses, jute, gold, silver, and various tinsels.
Among the chief artistic productions in textiles are the kincobs, or silken brocades, made at Ahmedabad and Benares, the embroidered muslin of Dacca, the pile carpets of Malabar, the rugs of Madras, and the shawls of Cashmere.
The native excellence, however, in the design, colour, and manufacture that has characterised these textiles for centuries past is now in danger of extinction—and great mischief has been done already—from the influence of European designs, the introduction of magenta and aniline dyes, and by the competition with European markets, resulting in the production of cheaper forms of Indian goods. It is only in the case of a few instances where the textiles are made to order, or under the patronage of some of the remaining Indian princes, that the traditional superiority of manufacture is still maintained. Another exception is the production of the silk brocades, or kincobs (Fig. 261); this is owing in a great measure to the demand for these goods by the Chinese and other Orientals, who have not yet adopted the Western ideas of imitating the European style of dress.
Some of these kincobs are highly ornamented with interwoven gold or silver-gilt patterns of floral form, others are ornamented as in the “happy hunting-ground” patterns of Benares manufacture, with flowers, birds, and animals. This particular form of fabric is no doubt a survival, through Persian channels, of the embroidered garments of the ancient Babylonian monarchs.
In the production of cotton goods the trade of the native caste of weavers has suffered very much by the great importation of Manchester cottons, and by the establishment of monster cotton power-loom factories at Ahmedabad and elsewhere. Many natives of the weaver caste have been obliged to take to agricultural and other less lucrative pursuits, owing to the partial ruin of their trade by English competition.
Fig. 261.—Kincob of Ahmedabad. (B.)
Cotton-printing is still, however, an important native industry, especially in the city of Lucknow, where the colouring and design are still superior to that of the English or French chintzes. Some of the best Indian, or rather Indo-Persian, ornament is found on the printed calico palampores, or bed-coverings, made at Masulipatam and other places. Calicoes woven in varying stripes of coloured threads, checks, and tartans of all hues, are among the specialities of Indian textiles, the material being used for trouserings, skirts, and petticoats.