Mordant block-printed cotton (chintz)
Estampado de algodón con bloques y mordientes (chintz)
- Date
- c. 1000 · confidence low
- Place
- Gujarat, India
- Credited to
- Dyers and printers of Gujarat
- Field
- Tools
What it is
Different mordants (alum, iron) were printed or painted onto cotton and, when the cloth was dyed in madder or indigo, each area took on a fast, washable colour. Gujarati fragments found at Fustat (Egypt) show massive trade in these textiles.
The technique is much older than the dated Fustat fragments (10th-15th centuries), but no earlier Indian pieces survive because of the climate.
What it led to
- export of Indian textiles to the Islamic world, Africa and Europe
- bans on chintz in France (1686) and England (Calico Acts, 1700-1721)
- European printing industry (Mulhouse, Lancashire)