Design of a betel leaf.

Container, often perforated, for betel leaves and other accessories.

Gujarati technique of jewellery making wherein tiny claws cast together with the ornamental framework are used to hold the stone in place.

Gujarati embroidered frieze.

Hanging pendant from Tamil Nadu that comes in various shapes including a serpent hood, swan, lotus, peacock and mango.

Lotus motif in Orissan sari.

The joining together, by means of evenly distributed lines of stitches, of two or more layers of fabric to afford warmth, protection and decoration.

Tie-dyeing in Telugu.

A turban.

Mizo basket used by women for carrying firewood and cotton.

Grain measure in Madhya Pradesh.

The application of mordants, dyestuffs or pigments to an object, usually to the surface of a fabric or to unwoven threads.

A type of embroidery, literally meaning good or strong, used by Frontier Herders, particularly Haliputras in Kutch, Gujarat.

A mordant-painted and sometimes batik resist-dyed Indian cotton fabric which usually features an elaborate flowering tree on a rocky mound. Derived from the word palangposh meaning bedspread.

Indian hand-painted cottons of fairly large size, often patterned with ‘Tree of Life’ motifs, which were imported into Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and used for bedcovers and hangings and later stretched on frames as wall decorations.

Fish trap of Rabha tribe of Assam.

The principle usually ornamented end-piece of a sari.

The end piece of the sari that is draped over the left shoulder, usually with a design that contrasts with and complements the rest of the sari.

Leaf pouch containing chopped nits, spices and lime, chewed as a digestive and mild stimulant.

Betel leaf, which together with areca nut and lime is formed into a quid and chewed; often stored in a pandan or special box.

Basket for betel in Bihar.

Literally, the five-garland border; same as panch taga in Kantha embroidery.

Five stripes, a traditional motif in mashru fabricof Gujarat.

A threaded running stitch border in nakshi kantha embroidery.

Oil lamp with five lamp bowls.

Literally five-rooted; a five-pronged motif common in nakshi kantha embroidery.

A section of a textile of a separate length of fabric. Not to be confused with a head-panel, a design element on certain Asian textile.

Erythrina indica; wood used in Savantwadi, Maharashtra.

Thousand emeralds literally, name of a brocade design.

Kora grass mat of Kerala.

A device used to copy a design in a scale other than the original.

A district.

Fairy.

Circumambulation of the deity.

A resist dyeing process in which a thick paste is applied to the surface of the fabric and allowed to harden before the cloth is dyed. See also batik, resist dyeing.

Folk tales painted on scrolls.Also, Cloth length in Gujarat; while in Punjab pat means floss silk.

Scroll paintings.

Patachitra or the cloth board scroll icon painting of Orissa occupy an important status among the many art forms centered around the temple of Puri. For the painted surface, the chitrakar community of painters utilises a gauze like fine cotton cloth, coated with a cooked solution of powdered tamarind seed, chalk and gum and subsequently smoothened.
The paintings are executed primarily in profile with highly elongated eyes within floral border. There are few landscapes and the scenes are depicted in a foreground closely juxtaposed together. Highly stylised paintings of the Puri temple and scenes from the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, figure along with the predominant painting of lord Jagannath, a form of Krishna, with his older brother Balarama and sister Subhadra.

Sari made from untwisted silk.

A decorative fabric assembled by seaming together many relatively small and more or less equivalent pieces of a number of different fabrics. See also appliqué.

Lathe in Kannada.

(In Bengali) Also known as chatai; lit. the mat stitch.

Mat weavers of Bengal and Assam. s

A waist-sash worn by the nobilit or Typical turban in Andhra Pradesh.

Famous double-ikat silk saris now woven only at Patan, Gujarat but formerly also at Surat and other towns. The term probably derives from the Sanskrit pattakula, meaning silk fabric.

Salvi community of Gujarati weavers who weave the double ikat patola silks.

Impersonator and vehicle of the deity in spirit possession rites among the bhuta deities of coastal Karnataka.

Paintings on cloth board.

The Maratha dagger the patta has a similar construction to the kartar and it is believed that it probably, evolved from the katar.

Silk fabric.

Pairs of stripes, a design on the mashru fabric of Gujarat.

Sets of shed-sticks supplementary to the main heddles used to create other sheds for the purpose of decorative patterning. Mostly used for supplementary weft weaving they may also be used to create supplementary warp patterning.

Type of cane used for making mats in Bengal.

Type of cane in Assamese.

Woollen twill weave blankets in geometric designs from Himachal Pradesh.

Painters of Bengal.

Basket

As the name implies, the payazi mace head was heavy and shaped like and onion/piyaz. The surface of the head had uneven projections.

Carbonate of potash.

The machine using the pantograph principle to transfer at one time as many repeats as are required around the surface of the copper cylinder. Originally the design was always increased five times in size on to the zinc master plate before being transferred at original size on to the surface of the copper cylinder - hence this traditional corruption of the word ‘pantograph’ in the textile trade.

Tamil for woman.

The dried unripe fruit of various species of Rhamnus. Also called French berries, grains of Avignon.

Straight bladed daggers such as the pesh kabz have acutely tapering blades which are ground back under the grip to form a distinct step. Another distinguishing feature is the broad T-rib along the back edge of the blade. Grips are of the sandwich type with layers of bone, horn, elephant ivory and walrus ivory riveted to an extension of the blade. The pesh kabz sits very deeply into its scabbard, leaving only the pommel exposed. The tapering slender point is used for piercing through the rings of coats of mail and splitting them. The pesh qabz is of Persian origin and was introduced into India by the Mughals.

Rectangular boxes of brass or copper displayed on shelves or floors of the living rooms of the rooms of the rural houses of Kutch and Saurashtra in Gujarat.

Large painted rectangular canvas panels rolled and carried around by the bhopas that depict the life story of the fighter hero Pabuji and the neo-Hindu incarnation of Vishnu, Dev Narayan of Rajasthan.

Reed mat of Manipur.

End pieces of Kashmiri shawl.

Gold alloyed with silver.

Woollen smock worn by Kashmiris.

Steeple-shaped motif in Orissan sari.

Stitch in Kantha.

In the engraved roller industry known as a ‘light-sensitive varnish’. It is usually made of a branded PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) emulsion added to a solution of ammonium bichromate. One way, using Stensol (a proprietary brand which is sold unsensitized), is to make a stock solution with 6 per cent sodium bichromate and mix one part stock solution to five parts Stensol.

The process by which an ‘ engraving’ is produced in a metal plate or cylinder by means of light acting on a sensitised surface and the resultant image then being etched in acid. Conventional gravure cylinders all have cells or ‘dots’ of the same width but varying depth so that they hold either more or less ink, thus producing varying tones f one colour. One of the main methods of printing transfer paper.

A style of textile printing (known in France as picotage) used in the eighteenth century. A series of brass pins were driven into the surface of the block which was then used to produce a pattern, either as background or as shadowy shapes of such things as leaves.

Flower border in Kantha embroidery.

Bamboo flower basket in North India.

Lit. flower work. Shawls of khaddar cloth embroidered by Punjabi women in floss silk, leaving much of the background cloth unembroidered,done in satin stitch over counted threads on coarse madder or indigo-dyed home-spun cotton fabric. Also Ref. Bagh.

Wet rag used by Manipuri women in hand modelling the pot.

Stone anvil used by Manipur potter women.

Yellow earth in Uttar Pradesh.

The pigment-painted temple hangings or pichhavais of the Vallabhacharya Sampradaya, a Krishna sect in Rajasthan and Gujarat, are hung behind the image of the deity. The term pichhavai is a Hindi word, literally meaning ‘of behind’ (pichha - back and vai - of), which well describes the hanging’s function.

Temple hanging of the Vaishnava Vallabacharya sect of Nathdwara in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

The joining of pieces of fabric to make a larger textile. The top layer of “patchwork” quilts is pieced before being quilted.

Colour which is not fully absorbed as a dye, but which binds to a surface when incorporated in an emulsion. In indigo's case the dried pigment becomes a dye when dissolved in the dye vat with Alkalis and a reducing agent.

The printing of fabrics with opaque pigments that lie on the surface of the fabric instead of being absorbed into the fibres. Such pigments should not be used on pile fabric, e.g. velvet, as they will destroy the fabric's natural feel.

A plush or shaggy surface on a fabric resulting from loops or ends of yarn or fiber projecting above or below the surface of the fabric. In Oriental carpets, pile is formed by the cut ends of yarns commonly called rug knots.

Cleaned.

Cleaned.

Fretsaw perforation style of wood carving typical of Kashmiri craftsmanship.

Ficus religiosa.

The name of a border pattern based on the kaitya, literally, ant line.

Fine metal pins driven into the corners of the block for the purpose of establishing the correct repeat.

Finding the correct repeat. In engraved roller printing this means putting each roller in correct position while the machine is running slowly. Also known as ‘registering’ or ‘putting in register’.

The soft stem of a marshly reed.

A checkered pattern achieved by tabby weaving different sets of coloured warp and weft threads in recurring arrangements.

The simplest possible interlacing of warp and weft elements in which weft element passes alternately over and under successive warp elements (over-one, under-one), and each reverses the procedure of the one before it.
Balanced plain weave: Plain weave in which the warp and weft yarns are of the same size and interlaced with equal spacing
Warp-faced plain weave: Plain weave in which the warp yarns are significantly more numerous than the weft yarns so that they completely hide the weft.
Weft-faced plain weave: Plain weave in which the weft yarns are significantly more numerous than the warp yarns so that they completely hide the warp.

A resist dyeing and patterning process in which areas of cloth are reserved from dye by being bound off with dye-resistant fibres before dyestuffs are applied. Patterns are usually built up from small circles.

Plastic thread.

The process of twisting together two or more single yarns. If the yarn is composed of two singles twisted together, it is said to be 2-ply, if of three singles, 3-ply, etc. Plying is usually done in the opposite direction from spinning.

Ornamental work produced by burning designs on to the surface of an object with a hot pointed instrument.

Votive terracotta figure of a bullock on wheels, Madhya Pradesh.

The action of polishing or burnishing. Make shiny by rubbing with a hard, smooth object.

Large conical fish trap from Tripura.

The chemical union of two or more molecules of the same compound to form larger molecules. In screen printing, the emulsion coating (with added hardener) is baked, or ‘cured’, to bring about this change - after exposing and developing - as it greatly extends the life of the patterned screen.

Carbonate of potash has been known since ancient times as a constituent of the ashes of land plants, from which it is obtained by extraction with water. In most cases Sodium Carbonate, which it strongly resembles, can be used in its place.

A bundle of rectangular chitrakathi paintings of Maharashtra that together relate a single story.

A term widely used in Southeast Asia for gold leaf glue-work, the application of gold leaf or gold dust to the cloth surface.

Lord of the universe, also an appellation given to potters.

Breathing in of life’ in the image of a deity after its completion by the craftsman. It is believed that the deity descends into its images.

A rug or carpet with the design of a niche or arch at one end of the field.

The large central cylinder against which the engraved roller rotates and which carries the back-grey and cloth to be printed. Made resilient by lapping, it acts in effect like a print table.

Also known as ‘dye-paste’. The blend of colouring-matter, solvents, mordant and thickening which the printer uses to get the impression.

Although with the invention of synthetic dyes it is now possible to apply colour directly to fabric, this process will not produce washable colours with natural dyes. Instead, designs first had to be printed either with a mordant or with a resist, and the entire fabric then immersed in the dye bath.
The traditional textile printing tool in the Middle East and Europe was the wooden block. During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, metal plates and then metal rollers were used instead, at first for mordants and resists, and then for the new dyes when these were developed.

Also known as ‘photographic engraving’, in the textile trade this refers to the process in which copper cylinders are etched from ‘tracing’(positives) produced entirely by photographic means.

Turban.

Ritualistic worship by Hindus.

Literally meaning ripe; used also in the sense of a ‘solid’ or ‘permanent’.

A border design in paar-tola patterns shaped like a pond.

Embroidered motif, literally flower, in Kutch, Gujarat.

The full vase motif in Kantha embroidery.

Veil.

Lit.curtain. The custom of the seclusion of women; Veil or curtain, used to describe the custom of women covering their faces in the presence of men.

Puppet figure of a woman or doll.

The invoked god in alpana floor design in Bengal.