Indian Embroiderer in Delhi (c. 1863)

Photograph of an embroiderer in Delhi, c. 1863. Photograph of an embroiderer in Delhi, c. 1863. From Watson 1869, Vol. IV, Ill. No. 188.

A photograph of an embroiderer behind his frame from Delhi, India, and dated to c. 1863, was taken by Shepherd and Robinson. The photograph is included as illustration no. 188 in volume IV of John Forbes Watson's (co-editor with John William Kaye) The People of India (1868-1875), with the caption 'Scarfmaker'.

The accompanying text states, "Delhi scarves are famous, and there are few to whom they are not known. They are of cashmere cloth, or of net, embroidered with silks of various colours, and in all imaginable designs...The outline is traced carefully on the material to be embroidered, which is stretched upon a frame supported by trestles, as seen in the photograph. The worker is seated on the ground beside it, and fills in the pattern with floss silk by means of wooden needles, like those used in the embroidery of cashmere shawls."

Digital source photograph (retrieved 16th May 2016)

WV

Last modified on Sunday, 30 April 2017 13:14