Indian 'lace' makers

Modern Indian gota lace border. Modern Indian gota lace border.

In various (English language) books about Indian textiles, the terms 'lace' and ‘lace makers' are associated with the production of woven braids and trimmings made from metal thread. These braids and trimmings are collectively known by the Hindu word ‘gota.’ They were and still are produced in Lucknow and other Indian cities.

Gota is woven on looms and not made with either a needle or bobbins. So based on English terminology, gota should be known as braids and trimmings, rather than as a lace. This point was made by Sir George Watt in his descriptive and very detailed history of ‘modern’ forms of Indian textile production and decoration, written in the early twentieth century.

See also the TRC Needles entries on lais and Lucknow metal thread 'laces'.

Source: WATT, George (1903). Indian Art at Delhi 1903: Being the Official Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition 1902-1903, Calcutta: Government Printing Press, pp. 421-422.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 25 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Monday, 24 April 2017 12:57
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