cover image: Palampore

20.500.12592/g9bnqc

Palampore

Research in Progress A palampore or tent hanging with a center field and border. The field is dominated by a tall, straight, slender palm (possibly date?) rising from a mound, with a full crown of feathery foliage and fruit clusters. From lower on the trunk spring, at one side, a small palm head, bending gracefully, and from the other side a down-curving branch of blossoms. From the mound grows a slender flowering vine, which divides and winds upward, forming a frame for the tree's head. Small flowering trees grow from either corner of the mound; to the left of the palm is a short rugged tree, bamboo shoots grow close to the trunk of the palm, and to the right stands a handsome peacock. The trunk of the palm is marked with an eliptical pattern, and its roots are exposed. The border, 15 inches wide, is a repeating pattern of short trees, and in each corner, a small bamboo tree. The rows of little trees grow from a curving ground line, suggesting mounds. In two reds, blue, green, red-violet, yellow (now much faded) and red-brown outlines on an off-white ground, without seam. Lined with cotton.
Collection
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection Textiles Department
Date published
mid–late 18th century
Dates
mid–late 18th century
Format
Medium: cotton Technique: mordant printed or painted and resist-dyed plain weave (chintz) Label: cotton, mordant-printed, resist-painted, and dyed (chintz)
Pages
H x W: 335.3 x 236.2 cm (11 ft. x 7 ft. 9 in.)
Place Discussed
India
Provider
Smithsonian Institution
Published in
India
Reference
1952-118-1
Rights
Museum purchase from Au Panier Fleuri Fund
Source
Digital Public Library of America https://dp.la/item/9c46a6b1fa80c4e802329cf431b6a7c0