Printing Block

Dark colored printing block for a textile. One side is carved with raised relief figures consisting of four ducks and four lions. The sides are uneven and the back has a roughly carved handle. There is an eyehole screw in the back of the handle. A label on the back says 2 rupis. When printed in repeat (as it would be in use), it would form alternating diagonal stripes of the ducks and lions. Printing blocks are created by professional block makers who carve the design into wood. A single block-printed pattern may require several differnt blocks, with each block used for a separate element of the overall design. The pattern can be applied either directly with substantive dyes and with pigments or submerged into a dye bath after being printed with mordants (to adhere) or resists (to repel).