Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 133
Length of royal jamdani muslin with applied gold decoration Dhaka, circa 1910(3)
6 October 2015, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,500 inc. premium
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Length of royal jamdani muslin with applied gold decoration
Dhaka, circa 1910
Dhaka, circa 1910
cotton, plain weave with supplementary brocading (discontinuous supplementary pattern wefts) in different colours; gold lamella appliqué embroidery; with two additional fragments
the largest section 334.5 cm. long(3)
the largest section 334.5 cm. long(3)
Footnotes
Provenance
Acquired from Mrs Elaine Brunner (née Howlett), daughter of Richard Howlett, valet to King George V from 1901 until his death in 1936.
King George V (1865-1936).
Bengal has always been famous for its woven cotton fabrics. Following the conquest of Bengal by the Mughals in the late 16th Century, royal workshops were set up in Dhaka, Sunargaon, Jangalbari and Bazetpuur to supply the court with fine quality muslin. Jamdani was one of two techniques used to decorate the muslin and involved adding discontinuous supplementary cotton wefts during the weaving process. This created designs that appear more dense against the thinned ground of the muslin.
The lengths of fabric in the present lot were presented to King George V by Maharaja Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur, the Prime Minister of Nepal, whilst he was on a hunting trip to the Tarai Region. They were then given by the King to his valet, Richard Howlett.