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Mughal Embroidered Coat

Mughal Indian coat, early 17th century. Mughal Indian coat, early 17th century. Copyright Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acc. no. IS 18-1947.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a beautifully embroidered coat that dates back to the early seventeenth century and originates from Mughal India (acc. no. IS 18-1947).

Detail of Mughal coat, early 17th century. V&A London, IS 18-1947.The coat is made of a white satin ground material decorated with chain stitch with silk thread showing a landscape full of flowers and animals, including ducks, lions and peacocks. It was on show at the acclaimed Fabric of India exhibition in 2015-2016. The area around the neck, according to the information provided by the Museum, was left free to allow for a separate collar (tippet), perhaps made of fur.

The museum also tells that chain stitch embroidery was traditionally carried out by men of the Mochi community in Gujarat (western India), who were especially employed by the Mughal court for embroidering luxury textiles.

See also: Mughal wall hanging

Source: CRILL, Rosemary (2015). 'Persistence rewarded: the V&A's Mughal coat', V&A Blog, click here.

V&A online catalogue (retrieved 30 April 2016)

WV

 

Detail of Mughal coat, early 17th century. V&A London, IS 18-1947.

Last modified on Monday, 03 October 2016 17:55