Embroidered Quilt Cover, Gujurat

Embroidered Quilt Cover, India circa 1930’s/40’s, probably Gujurati. Handwoven cotton base with silk embroidery and mirrors. 97 x 168 cm (38 x 66 inches). Provenance: The Carol Summers Collection of Indian Folk Textiles.

A superb and rare example, featuring a tree of life design in the most beautiful colour palette of pinks, oranges and yellows. Disarming and exuding charm and happiness, it may be the most cheerful textile we’ve ever seen. The joy and love that went into making it are overwhelmingly apparent. The piece has three hanging loops to the top, making it a very easy to display wall hanging.

Superb overall condition. The cotton ground is clean, the majority of the embroidery is intact. No holes and minimal wear to the embroidery. There is a small stain in the lower left (on the first yellow leaf of the bottom left hand branch, going on to the cotton ground underneath it). Mirror glass missing to some of the toran pennants at the bottom and a crack to the glass in one of the flowers (appears to be stable, remaining in position in two pieces). There are still pencil lines visible on the ground where the artist first mapped out the design.

Please see extra images here and high res video file here

Provenance: The Carol Summers Collection of Indian Folk Textiles. Carol Summers was a well known American printmaker who travelled extensively in India and Nepal to build his collection of folk textiles between 1976 and 2013. The vibrancy of colour and bold expression of these textiles was a clear and important influence on his own work. You can see Carol discussing the collection here

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