Cleveland Museum of Art

Weaving and Spinning

Kehar Singh

Date

c. 1860

Medium

Gum tempera and ink on paper

Culture

India, Punjab, probably Amritsar or Lahore, Company school, 19th century

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Hand-spun and woven cotton cloth was probably the most important commodity exported from India during the 1700s and 1800s. The British East India Company expanded to manage the business of textile production and international sale. The humble conditions under which Indian weavers and spinners worked are depicted here, where simple looms are made from crude branches, and the craftsmen work on the ground. The inscriptions at the top of the page indicate the artist’s name and the workers’ occupations.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.