TRADE CLOTH FOR INDONESIAN MARKET, INDIA, c.late 18thC

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TRADE CLOTH FOR INDONESIAN MARKET, INDIA, c.late 18thC

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Sold Date: 12/16/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

COTTON CHINTZ TRADE CLOTH " KAIN SEMBAGI " (SKIRT/SHOULDER CLOTH) WITH EUROPEAN TRADER'S STAMP (made for the Indonesian Market)

Provenance: Coromandel Coast or Gujarat, India. Age: Late 18th/early 19th Century. Size: Materials: Very finely woven natural plainweave cotton, natural dyes. Colours: Madder red, black and undyed white cotton. Techniques: Mordant resist dyed and block printed cotton. Condition: Very good condition - complete piece, with no fading to the design, however with a small area to one end with a number of holes, probably from silver fish at some stage (see second from last photo). Design: Simulated Patola sari design ( Patola saris were woven in India in silk in single and double ikat technique, and were much prized by wealthy Indonesian nobility - these block printed cotton cloths were made with the same designs as an affordable substitute for the less wealthy Indonesians). Stamped on one corder of the cloth with a trader's stamp (see the last photo). It is difficult to make out the details of the stamp on this cloth, however it can be said for certain that it is not the stamp of the VOC, as that is circular. The stamp may be the mark of the British East India Company (for information on the VOC and British East India Company see the history section below). History: The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie ("VOC")) and the British East India Company (colloquially known as the "John Company") were both granted Royal charters by their respective governments to have exclusive trading monopolies in the East. They made huge profit, particularly in the 18th Century, by trading commodoties in between various Eastern countries in long established trade routes, and then bringing commodities back to Europe to sell. One example of one facet of this very complex and lucrative commodity trade is the buying of Indian textiles (including printed cotton chintzes like the one for sale with European gold, and trading those textiles within the region now known as Indonesia for spices (primarily nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and pepper), and then taking those spices back to Europe to sell for huge profit, as spices were so rare and desirable in Europe until the 19th Century. Other important commodities being traded were tea, silks and Chinese porcelain. The VOC was dissolved at the end of 1795 and the British East India Company ended up similarly in 1858. References: Woven Cargoes by John Guy, see pp 100 and 101, and plates 131 and 132 for a stamped Coromandel Coast trade cloth made for the Indonesian market with a very similar design to the one for sale Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade and transformation by Robyn J. Maxwell, see p.355, and plates 504 and 505 (detail) for another similar piece, but with a variation on the central floral field.

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