Art Institute of Chicago

Patolu

Gujarat, India

Date

18th-19th century

Medium

Silk, gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk or bast fiber, strips of plain weave and stripes of warp and weft resist dyed (double ikat), plain weave with gilt-metal-strip-wrapped silk or bast fiber brocading wefts; main warp fringe

Culture

India

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Patola are finely woven silk textiles made in Gujarat, India. They became highly valued imports in Indonesia, where merchants gave them to local rajas (rulers) to curry favor for trade. As a result, they came to be prized by their owners as heirlooms denoting high status. Artists create the designs using a double-ikat technique, dyeing the threads prior to weaving.

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