Indian Cotton for Cairo: An Unknown Textile Collection in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and New Insights on the Early Indian Ocean Textile Trade

Textile fragment. Made in Gujarāt, India; used in Egypt. 13th-15th century. Blockprinted cotton tabby. 978.76.97 Abemayor Collection given in memory of Dr. Veronika Gervers, Associate Curator, Textile Department (1968-1979) by Albert and Federico Friedberg. Certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.

Categories

Art & Culture
Fellowship

Researcher

Royal Ontario Museum Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Bloor Street Entrance.
Ruth Barnes

About the Project

Dr. Barnes’ research focused on 24 previously unstudied textile fragments of block-printed cotton made in Gujarat for the Egyptian market, dating to sometime in the late medieval - early modern period. She studied them in detail in order to ascertain their likely provenance and functions, probable age, production techniques, iconography and stylistic traits through a comparison to similar fragments held in other museum collections in North America and Europe.

Project Highlights

Textile fragment. Made in Gujarāt, India; used in Egypt. 1200-1499. Printed and resist dyed cotton tabby. 978.76.304 Abemayor Collection given in memory of Dr. Veronika Gervers, Associate Curator, Textile Department (1968-1979) by Albert and Federico Friedberg. Certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.
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