A work made of silk, gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk or bast fiber, strips of plain weave and stripes of warp and weft resist dyed (double ikat), plain weave with gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk or bast fiber brocading wefts; main warp fringe.

Patolu

18th-19th century

Gujarat, India

India

Patola are finely woven silk textiles made in Gujarat, India. They became highly valued imports in Indonesia, where merchants gave them to local rajas (rulers) to curry favor for trade. As a result, they came to be prized by their owners as heirlooms denoting high status.

Artists create the designs using a double-ikat technique, dyeing the threads prior to weaving.

Silk, gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk or bast fiber, strips of plain weave and stripes of warp and weft resist dyed (double ikat), plain weave with gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk or bast fiber brocading wefts; main warp fringe

Textiles