Dhurries: History, Technique, Pattern, Identification

The dhurriefor centuries a widely used floor covering in Indiais becoming increasingly popular in Western decoration. Its striking colors and the powerful simplicity and variety of its designs are the perfect accompaniment to twenty-first-century interiors. Just as the great wave of enthusiasm for kilims in the last twenty years ended forever the hegemony of the oriental carpet, these cotton flatweaves are repeatingand to an extent replacingthe sales success of the kilim. This is the first thorough guide to the dhurrie, incorporating over 240 examples, most specially photographed. Each design pattern, whether of main field or border, figurative or geometric, is carefully analyzed and illustrated. Materials, spinning, dyeing, and the techniques of weaving are clearly explained, and there is a map, a glossary, a select bibliography, and an index. The history of the dhurrie stretches from the Ajanta cave paintings to the present day, and readers will see here the earliest surviving dhurrie, from the seventeenth century, originally in the Amber Palace in Rajasthan. No one is better placed than Nada Chaldecott to trace this history from the royal workshops of the Mughals and the Maharajahs, to impressive local cottage industries, and even the workshops attached to state penitentiaries. For collectors and would-be collectors, for textiles aficionados and for everyone interested in a vital source of ideas for design and color, Dhurries is indispensable. 265 illustrations, 248 in color.

Nada Chaldecott, born in Lebanon, originated the Textiles, Carpets, and Tapestries course at Sotheby's Institute, London. Her researches on dhurries have taken her throughout India and Pakistan.