Printing Block

89-13-227

From: India

Curatorial Section: Asian

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Object Number 89-13-227
Current Location Collections Storage
Culture Indian
Provenience India
Section Asian
Materials Wood
Technique Carved | Hand Carved
Iconography Floral
Description

Printing block for a textile. Carving from part of a cross section of a tree. One side is flat and the other is carved into a raised design which radiates from a center in a vegetal-type pattern. Sections of the block that are carved out completely show where portions of the design would have been filled in by other blocks, likely in a different color. 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).

Credit Line Gift of the Estate of Elizabeth Lyons, Keeper of the Asian Collections, University Museum, 1989

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