Chintz Hanging: Coromandel Coast now in the Ashmolean's textile collection. Courtesy The Art Fund
An 18th-century Indian wall hanging, considered to be an exemplar of textile production techniques of South East Asia, has been purchased by the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford.
The textile, Chintz Hanging: Coromandel Coast will be displayed in the museum’s new West meets East gallery and will illustrate the artistic and cultural exchanges which the new gallery is designed to explore.
While 'chintz' is now sometimes used as a derogatory term to describe overblown, blousy, flowery design, the complex techniques used to produce the dyed calico fabric wowed wealthy late 17th and then the 18th century Western customers.
However the methods eluded European manufacturers and this lead to some European countries, including Britain, banning its import for fear of damage to their own textile industries.
A detail of the hanging showing its complex design and unusual red and blue colours. Courtesy The Art Fund
A £9,000 grant from the V&A Purchase fund, £5,000 from the Art Fund and £3,000 from the Friends of the Ashmolean enabled the museum to make the £22,000 acquisition.
An addition to the museum’s already substantial Indian textile collection, the hanging will contribute to the innovative new display strategy being undertaken in the Ashmolean’s redevelopment.
It is intended that visitors to the 39 new galleries on five floors will appreciate items as interrelated rather than in isolation and gain understanding of how different civilisations have shaped modern societies.
“This textile perfectly exemplifies the artistic and cultural exchanges which this new gallery is designed to explore,” said David Barrie, Director of the Art Fund.
The Art Fund has during the last two years provided the Ashmolean Museum with grants totalling over £100,000. Nationally, the charity has secured 860,000 works of art for UK collections since it was set up in 1903.
