- Features Indian textiles pieces from the Karun Thakar Collection, and
The Textile Museum and Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection in
Washington, DC- Published to accompany an exhibition at The Textile
Museum at George Washington University in Washington, DC, opening
January 2022The book features items from one of the world's foremost
private collections of Indian textiles, the Karun Thakar Collection,
together with key pieces from two recently united American collections,
The Textile Museum and the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Collection in
Washington, DC. The book and accompanying exhibition offer a unique
approach to understanding Indian textile culture through reference to
three distinct traditions: abstract, floral and figurative design.With
essays by three leading international Indian textile curators, the
publication's focus on textile ornament rather than date, region, usage,
or technique provides new perspective and scholarship on this ancient
artistic tradition. The book highlights the tradition's remarkable
diversity, with objects ranging from folk embroideries to Mughal courtly
weavings, and from early textiles traded to Egypt and Southeast Asia to
18th-century chintzes exported to Europe.
