Chintz Fabric

WHERE DOES CHINTZ COMES FROM?

The chintzes illustrated in the book were all made in south-east India, in the area that came to be known by Europeans as the Coromandel Coast. This name derives from Cholamandalam or ‘realm of the Cholas’, the dynasty that ruled what is now Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh during the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. Printed and painted cottons, often referred to as chintz by western observers and traders, were also made in other parts of India, with the towns of Sironj and Burhanpur in central India being mentioned as producing chintzes of good quality, but those from the northern part of the Coromandel coastal area have always been acknowledged as being the finest.

As well as the centuries-old skills of the local artists and dyers, this area was the source of the best red dye, called chay (Latin: Oldenlandia umbellate). The coastal areas of the Krishna river delta were particularly well suited to the cultivation of chay, and as a result there were many villages in that area producing what the East India Company called ‘chay goods’- that is cloths that were dyed red, such as handkerchiefs and lungis - a tradition that has ended only recently, since Chirala was the last place making red dyed telia rumals for export to the Middle East at the end of the twentieth century.

One of the remarkable things about the fashion for chintz was that almost everyone could afford some item of chintz dress. For the first time, and to the dismay of many, servants were indistinguishable by their dress from their mistress, since members of all sections of society were wearing chintz. By 1680 many fabrics of French or Italian origin were being supplanted by Indian cottons amongst the middle and upper classes, although it took longer for the rich and the aristocracy to accept the fashion. A robust campaign initiated by Josiah Child of the East India Company set out to win over the upper classes, and sample of Indian cotton were out to influential taste-formers (including Charles II) between 1660 and 1683.

Evidently campaign worked, because by 1687 ‘ladies of the greatest quality’ were wearing chintz. These rich devotees of the fashion were however, reluctant to give up silk and other luxury fabrics entirely: the same ladies were recorded as wearing fashionable (but relatively cheap chintz on the outside of their gowns, which were lined with expensive velvet and cloth of gold Some high-quality chintz dresses in eighteenth century were lined with silk, or given added glamour by having gold paint applied to their surfaces. Gilding was also frequently used on wall-hangings and other furnishings, which must have given a magnificent effect by candlelight.