POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Tree of Life' palampore

Object No. A8201

This palampore, or bed curtain, was made in Palakollu, Andhra Pradesh, on the Coromandel Coast of India in the mid 1700s. It is made of cotton which has been painted by hand with mordants and natural dyes. The central field displays a single, dominant tree rising from a rocky mound on which stand two peacocks and six deer. The graceful lines traced by the tree branches support a variety of fantastic flowers and fruit, including chrysanthemums, peonies, tulips and pomegranates. The tree of life motif is a hybrid form, which in the course of its evolution appears to have drawn on the diverse visual and artistic traditions of India and Europe as well as Persia and China. The white ground and symmetrical design reflect the taste and style of the Western client for whom the palampore was intended. The sinuous lines and pleasing floral display catered to the 18th-century fashion for Chinoiserie and the rococo style. The palampore was purchased from a country house sale in Devon in the 1960s and is thought to have been in the house since its arrival in England in the 1700s. The curtain would have been part of a bed furnishing set, comprising curtains which hung from the frame of a large four-poster bed, valances and a coverlet. Its use as a bed curtain perhaps accounts for the missing top border. The increasing prosperity of the English middle class during the 17th and 18th centuries brought about a change in lifestyle and an upsurge in consumer demand. Household furnishings became increasingly elaborate and the choice of fabric for bed curtains, wallhangings, quilts, valances and curtains became a matter of fashion and taste. Between 1600 and 1800 India dominated the world market as an exporter of textiles. Indian mordant-dyed, hand-painted, cotton fabrics known as chintz were admired for their brilliant colours. Unlike contemporary European and English fabrics, which were hand-painted and block-printed, Indian textiles used dyes that were not fugitive. Chintz was one of the commodities handled by the British East India Company. In the early 17th century the company bartered chintz in the Malay archipelago to obtain much sought-after spices. It wasn't until the mid 1600s that a direct trade in chintz occurred between India and England. Modifications, however, were sought to existing designs so that the fabrics would accord with Western tastes and complement English interiors. In 1643 the Indian agent was advised by the company: 'Those which hereafter you shall send we desire may be with more white ground, and the flowers and branch to be in colours in the middle of the quilt as the painter pleases, whereas now the most part of your quilts come with sad red grounds which are not equally sorted to please all buyers.' So popular was chintz as a dress and furnishing fabric that imports to France were banned in 1689, and in 1720 a law was introduced in England to forbid the use and wearing of apparel in imported chintz. Despite these restrictions chintz continued to enter these countries. Claire Roberts, Curator Asian Decorative Arts & Design, 1991 'Decorative Arts and Design From The Powerhouse Museum', Powerhouse Publishing, p.39