Description:
Man's T-shaped dressing gown or wrapping gown with a center front opening made of block- and hand-painted cotton in two shades of lavender, purple, two shades of blue, greenish-tan, pink, red, and dull yellow. The fabric was made on the southeast coast of India (Coromandal Coast) for the English/American market in the 1770s or early 1780s. Since the 16th century, banyans or dressing gowns functioned as loose robes worn by Western gentlemen in the privacy of their homes. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "banyan" as a 16th-century Arabic word for a Hindu trader; by the 1720s, the term had changed to indicate this piece of leisure clothing worn by men at home. Banyans are also described in period literature and diaries as bannians, Indian gowns, morning gowns, loose gowns and nightgowns. There are two basic styles: a loose T-shape, kimono-like garment; such as this example. and a more fitted coat style, usually with a matching waistcoat known as a banyan. This unlined gown has no closures. A design of stylized roses and other flowers in a zig-zag pattern interspersed with multi-lobed lozenges in zigzag strips, which is based on embroidery patterns and appears to be completely "penciled" or hand-painted (with possible use of wooden blocks for the solid backgrounds of the purple flowers). This hand work is clearly seen where the sleeve ends and the diagonal lobbed lozenge must be made smaller to accomodate the border. This design of stylized roses or peonies with distinctively formed rosebuds is closely related to several surviving textiles in Western museum collections, including a late 18th century petticoat panel in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The ground of the pattern has an overall shell design consisting of small dots in a shingle-like arrangement; the overlapping shells change direction near the shoulder to accomodate the sleeve as it extends from the body of the garment. The garment has been cut from a single piece of cloth extending from the front hem over the shoulders to the back hem, with two added pieces to extend the wide sleeves. The initial row of stitching in the banyan's sleeve extensions was sewn into place, and the pattern was subsequently painted over the sewn seam. This method of decorating a disposition not only made these kinds of gowns early ready-made garments, but also facilitated larger scale production in India beyond just the fabric. The folding-under of the seam allowance on the underside was done after the painting had dried since the heavy, white cotton thread used for hemming runs through the colored floral motifs. This method explains the perfectly matched pattern. The collar is inserted into the neck opening with the short edge attached to the horizontal slit at the front and the longer edge attached to the horizontal slit at the back to form a smooth fit at the neck. The sewing of this banyan has been done largely with heavy cotton thread, another indication that it was manufactured in India, and not in Europe or the America.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2000.12 |
