Waistcoat Front Panel
1760s
India, for the European Market
By the 18th century Indian textile artisans had already been celebrated internationally for centuries for their cotton textiles, whether embroidered or dyed in bright colors. This waistcoat front panel exemplifies Indian makers’ ability to cater to the taste of foreign markets: the shape of the embroidery was made to the specifications of Western European tailoring.
Cotton, plain weave foundation; embroidered with silk and gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk thread in chain stitches