Fragment
India (found at Fustat)
17th century (?)

India has exported textiles for several thousand years as witnessed in many ancient written sources. However, relatively few of these textiles actually remain, so when a group of textile fragments that appeared on the Egyptian market early in the 20th century were shown to have originated in western India, they were met with great interest. Found in the old Egyptian capital of Fustat, south of present day Cairo, the fragments remain our best evidence of early Indian textile skills. They are of cotton patterned with blocked and painted resists and dyed with indigo. Some utilize mordants, usually a metallic salt, to bind a red coloring agent to the fiber. The examples range from coarse cottons to more finely worked items. Recent carbon dating places examples from the 11th to the 17th century.

Warp: cotton. Weft: cotton
Stamped and drawn resists and painted mordants, dyed red, blue, and black
The Textile Museum 6.152, acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1950

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