A flourishing trade from the East.

Text by Laila Duran

The charm of the large-flowered patterns from India is that they are often lavishly decorated with both fantasy flowers and realistic elements from the local flora and fauna. When the first ships carrying painted fabrics came to Europe in the early 17th century, it was from the Indian Coromandel Coast in the east. The Dutch East India Company, VOC, which was founded in 1602 and is considered to be Europe's first public joint-stock company, shipped between 1602 and 1796, 2.5 million tons of goods to Holland. Amsterdam, which was then one of Europe's largest port cities, had a rich upper and upper middle class who competed in showing their wealth by both decorating their homes and dressing in the colorful painted "Chintz" fabrics. The intense colors and the exotic patterns aroused such a desire, that it would take more than a century to satisfy the market.

The word "chintz" comes from the Indian "chint" which means sprinkle or paint. In Sweden we call these printed and painted fabrics "kattun", which is believed to come from the English word "cotton".

The craving for the fabrics in Europe during the 18th century was so great that close to 75% of India's entire exports consisted of painted cotton and silk fabrics. Indians not only painted and printed their own traditional designs, with increased demand, the designs and coloring were adapted to European tastes. This gave us a new design with more naturalistic European flowers such as peonies, carnations, cornflowers and roses.

With the new demand for floral fabrics, the fabric producers around Europe start making their own attempts to print similar designs. But it was easier said than done. The colors paled in comparison, they could not be fixated, and the local woven cotton was coars compared to that from India. It would take until 1750 before the European chintz could measure up in quality (if not in artistry) to the Indian one. So from having been a status symbol for the very rich at the beginning of the 17th century, the floral cottons would eventually become something that most people could afford to wear.

The images above are from the Museum of Friesland in Leeuwarden and the Cotton in bloom exhibition shown in 2017. These are examples of the early hand-painted Indian patterns. The flowers are large, the colors strong and since everything was painted by hand, either it was painted directly on to the fabric or wax/reserve for coloring, we will not find the repeats (repetitions in the pattern) that we are used to in todays design. Another feature that distinguishes these fabrics is that the ground color often is as intense as the colors in the flowers.

The pattern HOLLANDIA which is new to the collection is the second pattern after DALSROA to belong to this early tradition. As the coveted bolts of prints transported by ships north to the Scandinavian coastal cities, the fashion spread quickly. We can see from the shape of the flowers, that the design Hollandia was produced for the European market, peonies and roses with smaller wood anemone and cornflowers and relatively short leaves on the twigs. If you find early 18th century floral patterns where the outer petals and the leaves are lengthen and pointed, the pattern probably derives from India. This is part of India's ancient design tradition, something that is still loved and cherished by people of all ages today.

When the production of printed cotton took off in Europe in the mid 18th century, the designs changed. Here in Scandinavia we wanted the flowers on a white or pale background. Woven floral (brocades) silk fabrics were often copied and printed, but over time skilled printers, some from Holland, moved to Sweden and came to develop a wealth of patterns that we now consider typically Nordic.

In 1722 the Dutchman Jan de Broen came with his family to Stockholm and started Sweden's first mill for cotton prints.

If you want to read more I recommend the excellent book Chintz, indian textiles for the west by Rosemary Krill.