Hand painted Indian cotton fabric

Hand painted cotton fabric sample known as a palampore, made in India around 1700-1800, for export to Europe.

Skilled Indian makers created this cotton cloth by hand. The cloth is known as a palampore, from the Hindi term for bed cover. Traders brought the cloth from India for sale in Britain. Prized for its quality and beauty, in Britain it was fashionable to make curtains and bedspreads out of cloth like this. The craze for cotton reached a peak in the early 18th century. Cotton cloth was lighter, brighter and could be washed and dried more easily than the heavy, woollen fabrics people in Britain were used to.