BALUCHARI: BENGAL AND BEYOND

THIS PUBLICATION PRESENTS ESSAYS AND INTERVIEWS, BASED ON THE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS FROM THE
SEMINAR ACCOMPANYING THE OPENING OF BALUCHARI: BENGAL AND BEYOND, AN EXHIBITION ON BALUCHARI
TEXTILES AT THE BIRLA ACADEMY OF ART AND CULTURE, KOLKATA (INDIA) BETWEEN 18 TH OCTOBER - 4TH DECEMBER,
2016.

BALUCHARI: BENGAL AND BEYOND IS AN ATTEMPT TO RE-IGNITE AN INTEREST IN THE BALUCHARI IN BENGAL (INDIA).
IT INVOLVES AN EXHIBITION ON HISTORICAL PIECES, AND THE BEGININGS OF A SERIES OF TECHNICAL AND CREATIVE
COLLABORATIONS WITH MASTER WEAVERS IN BISHNUPUR (BENGAL) (INDIA) TO BRING BACK SOME OF THE ORIGINAL,
CLASSIC DESIGNS FROM BALUCHARI TRADITION. THIS PUBLICATION BRINGS TOGETHER WRITINGS AND REFLECTIONS
ON THE SUBJECT WHICH IS BEING BROUGHT OUT THROUGH A SEMINAR ACCOMPANYING THE OPENING OF THE
EXHIBITION. THE SEMINAR, IN ADDITION TO BRINGING SOME OF THE FINEST ART AND TEXTILE THINKERS IN INDIA
TOGETHER TO DISCUSS THE BALUCHARI, ALSO AIMS TO ASSESS THE PRESENT STATE OF WEAVING IN BISHNUPUR
(BENGAL) (INDIA); ATTEMPTING TO START A DIALOGUE WITH CONTEMPORARY FASHION AND TEXTILE DESIGNERS TO
EXPLORE NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ITS SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK IS AS FOLLOWS:

1. A NOTE FROM THE WEAVERS STUDIO RESOURCE CENTRE BY DARSHAN SHAH

2. BALUCHARI: BENGAL AND BEYOND BY MAYANK MANSINGH KAUL
3. BALUCHARI SILKS FROM THE TAPI COLLECTION: THE JOURNEY (FOREWORD BY SHILPA SHAH)
4. COLONIAL ART FORMS OF THE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES: SITUATING THE BALUCHAR BY JYOTINDRA JAIN
5. BALUCHAR SARIS: ELEGANCE AND ENGIMA BY TULSI VATSAL
6. REFLECTIONS ON THE BALUCHARI BY CONVERSION WITH RAHUL JAIN
7. THREE STORIES OF COLLECTING: BALUCHAR SARIS AT THE V & A BY ANITA NATHWANI
8. BALUCHAR SILKS: A STUDY OF SOME INTERESTING MOTIFS BY SYAMALI DAS
9. THE BALUCHAR IN BENARAS BY ANJAN CHAKRAVERTY
10. THE REVIVAL OF THE BALUCHARI SARI IN BENARAS
BY JASLEEN DHAMIJA IN CONVERSATION WITH MONISHA ANAND
11. A TRADITION REBORN BY BRINDA GILL
12. REVIVING CRAFT IN INDIA: CONTEMPORARY QUESTIONSAND CONCERNS BY CONVERSATION WITH RITU SETHI
13. THE BALUCHARI IN BENGAL: IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE
RUBY PAL CHOWDHURY IN CONVERSATION WITH DARSHAN SHAH

SIZE: WIDTH 28.5 X HEIGHT 35.5; 67 IMAGES MOSTLY IN COLOUR

USEFUL FOR EACH AND EVERY TEXTILE/HANDLOOM ART AND CRAFT APPRECIATOR AND ARTISAN; MUSEUMS

PRICE: US $ 60.00
YOU CAN KEEP THE SAMPLES OF THE PRODUCT IN YOUR MUSEUM. PER SEPARATE ATTACHMENTS I AM
ATTACHING THE PRODUCTS – SAREES ; SCARVES; AND FABRIC FOR YOUR SELECTION AND ALSO FOR
YOUR PERSONAL USE.
SAHIB, BIBI, NAWAB BALUCHAR SILKS OF BENGAL 1750 - 1900.
By: Eva-Maria Rakob, Shilpa Shah, Tulsi Vatsal
Released in 2014
Published by The Tapi Collection, Surat.
Size - 11" (H) x 8.25" (W) Closed, 100p., 166 images, soft cover
ISBN 978-93-5196-002-7

"The more than 30 Baluchar saris from the Tapi Collection in Surat that appear in this volume comprise the most
complete and best preserved record of one of India’s distinctive textile traditions. In this comprehensive study,
Eva-Maria Rakob, Shilpa Shah and Tulsi Vatsal provide these gorgeous silk textiles with an iconographic description and
stylistic and technical analysis, while at the same time setting the saris within the broader historical, artistic and cultural
context. Their generously illustrated text may be regarded as the definitive scholarly study of one of the most fascinating
chapters in the story of India’s amazingly diverse sari traditions."
— DR. GEORGE MICHELL
Art historian, author, editor, Brick Temples of Bengal.

US $ 25.00

PEONIES AND PAGODAS: Embroidered Parsi Textiles from the Tapi Collection
Edited by : Shilpa Shah & Tulsi Vatsal
Foreword by Pheroza J. Godrej
Released in 2010
Published by Garden Silk Mills Limited in association with Tapi Collection, Surat
ISBN 978-81-905935-1-9

Contents: Foreword by Pheroza Godrej; Introduction by Shilpa Shah & Tulsi Vatsal; The Parsis in India, article by Zenobia
Dumasia, The China Connection, article by Tulsi Vatsal; Parsi Attire, Garas, Jhablas and Ijars, article by Priya Mani;
Looking West, Buying East, article by Tulsi Vatsal; Patterning A Gara, article by Shilpa Shah and Tulsi Vatsal; Exporting the
Exotic Embroidered Silks of China, article by Yueh-Siang Chang; Decorative Motifs and Bird Symbolism in Parsi
Embroidery, article by Aban Mukherjee;Aspects of Assimilation, The Indian Group of Parsi Textiles in Tapi Collection
article by Jasleen Dhamija; Parsi Headger, Topis, article by Villoo Mirza; Sari Borders, Kors article by Priya Mani; Methods
and Stitches, article by Priya Mani; Parsi Dress and Identity, article by Jesse Palsetia; The Embroidery Cupboard, Oral
Accounts of Parsi Embroidery article by Shernaz Cama; The Gara Today, An Heirloom Reinvented, article by Shipa Shah;
Chinese Communities in India, artlcle by Madhvi Thampi; Biblography; Acknowledgements.
The book Peonies & Pagodas; Embroidered Parsi Textiles from the Tapi Collection, covers not only the rich embroidered
textiles of the Parsis but systematically tells the story of development of the gara, placing Parsi embroidered textiles in
the wider context of Chinese export embroideries. It discusses Indian designs and the origins of certain early Parsi
textiles. It also relates interesting oral accounts of how different Parsi families learnt about and came to acquire garas.
Further, through different articles, the catalogue presents a vivid account of various motifs and their symbolism.

PRICE US $ 60.00

IN ADORATION OF KRISHNA: Pichhwais of Shrinathji

by Kalyan Krishna, Kay Talwar
Introductory Essay by B.N. Goswamy
released December 2007
Mumbai, Garden Silk Mills Ltd., 228 p., map, ills., hard cover with dust jacket, large format, ISBN 978-81-905935-0-2

Contents: I. Collector's Note and Acknowledgements; II. A Realm of the Senses - Celebrating Shrinathji/BN Goswamy; III.
Pichhwais for the Child God/Kalyan Krishna & Kay Talwar;  Catalogue: Nathdware & North Indian Pichhwais/TAPI
Research Team;  IV. Pichhwais for Krishna the Beloved/Kalyan Krishna & Kay Talwar;  Catalogue: Deccani and South
Indian Pichhwais/TAPI Research Team; V. The Aesthetics of Diversity: Catalogue of Variations in Embroidery, Brocade,
Tinsel Print, Lace and Machine Print/TAPI Research Team; VI. The Appeal of the Miniature: Catalogue of Paintings on
Cloth, Paper and Glass/TAPI Research Team; VII Appendix: Early Vernacular Accounts/Karuna Goswamy; VIII. Glossary;
IX./ Bibliography 

"In Adoration of Krishna: Pichhwais of Shrinathji unveils the wondrous world of pichhwais — the devotional textiles
that hang behind the image of Krishna as Shrinathji, worshipped by followers of Pushti Marg (the Path of Grace) in India.
Represented here are masterpieces from Praful and Shilpa Shah’s TAPI (Textiles & Art of the People of India) collection
of Surat, regarded as one of the most significant repositories of India’s textile art. Never before has this subject been
treated in such depth: the book covers the background of the sect, the place of these temple hangings in ritual practice,
and the vast range of mediums and techniques involved in pichhwai production, from the painted pichhwais of
Nathdwara and North India, through the artistic gilded prints of the Deccan and the complex kalamkari dye-patterned
pieces of the Coromandel Coast. Also represented is a rare 17th century, commemorative zardozi pichhwai, and
examples of embroidery in silk, pichhwais in brocade, tinsel-prints and, finally, machine-printed fabrics and lace from
foreign shores — the range is encompassing.  In addition, there are miniature paintings on paper, on glass, and even
pasted on wood, all of them associated with the Vallabhacharya sect.  With each type lavishly illustrated in colour, the
book is a visual and aesthetic delight.
An evocative Introduction by Prof. BN Goswamy leads on to articles on the two main centres of pichhwai-making by
textile scholars Dr. Kalyan Krishna and Kay Talwar. The entries cataloguing the collection and describing each pichhwai,
the result of painstaking effort by the TAPI research team, constitute a mine of information. A unique feature of the
book is a selection of stories translated from early vernacular accounts of the sect by Prof. Karuna Goswamy. 

In Adoration of Krishna is an invaluable resource for designers, art historians and anyone interested in the decorative
arts of Indian textiles in the context of the spiritual lives of thousands of people in this part of the world." 

US $ 70.00

TRADE, TEMPLE AND COURT: Indian Textiles from the TAPI Collection"
by Ruth Barnes, Steven Cohen, Rosemary Crill
released December 2002
Mumbai, India Book House, 238 p., map, ills., hard cover with dust jacket, large format, ISBN 81-7508-354-9

Contents: Introduction. 1. Textiles for the trade with Asia/Ruth Barnes. 2. Textiles for the trade with Europe/Rosemary
Crill. 3. Kashmir shawls/Steven Cohen. 4. Courtly and urban textiles/Rosemary Crill and Steven Cohen. 5. Pichhwais and
religious hangings/Rosemary Crill. Notes. Structural information. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.

"The Tapi collection brings together exceptional historical textiles that were treasured, not only by courtiers and royalty
in India, but in markets spanning the globe from South-East Asia to Europe. Trade, Temple and Court: Indian Textiles
from the Tapi Collection introduces for the first time several of the most outstanding textiles in the collection with
detailed text and over 240 lavish illustrations. Gatefold spreads enhance the reader's understanding of even the larger
textiles, while diagrams elucidate intricate structural and design elements.

"The Tapi pieces encompass a range of materials and motifs, from 14 century cloth woven and dyed or printed in
Gujarat for maritime communities in South-East Asia to the painted cottons and embroideries favoured by the Western
market and pictorial pichhwais specially designed for religious use.

The collection is particularly rich in rare early Kashmir shawls, as well as in 17 century articles for urban use, such as
floorspreads, sashes and hangings. More recent examples of beautifully woven cotton jamdanis and silk Baluchari pieces
are also included.

"Noted textile scholars Ruth Barnes, Steven Cohen and Rosemary Crill have categorised the collection according to
patronage and historical use, bringing fascinating insights to the realm of Indian textiles." 
"Trade, Temple & Court: Indian Textiles from the Tapi Collection is concerned with possibly one of the finest private
textile collections in India today…. The authors, Barnes, Crill and Cohen, concentrate on their specialist areas of expertise
and readers have, therefore, three learned volumes in one. "
Dr. Brenda King. Chair-the Textile Society, UK
PRICE US $ 60.00

KASHMIR SHAWLS
by Steven Cohen, Rosemary Crill, Monique Lévi-Strauss & Jeffrey B Spurr
Edited by Steven Cohen, Foreward by Ruth Barnes, Released in 2012, Published by The Shoestring Publisher in
association with Garden Silk Mills Limited, Mumbai and The Tapi Collection, Surat.
386p., hard cover with dust jacket, large format, ISBN 978-81-904720-5-0

"Kashmir Shawls offers a fabulous visual repository of dazzling new shawl images never before published. Curators
unfamiliar with shawls will find it extremely useful in assessing their own collections,…..Serious collectors will find this
lavish book to be a source of invaluable information."
Frank Ames. Shawl specialist & writer.

PRICE US $ 85.00
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