Textile fragment. Made in Gujarāt, India; used in Egypt. 13th-15th century. Blockprinted cotton tabby. 978.76.97 Abemayor Collection given in memory of Dr. Veronika Gervers, Associate Curator, Textile Department (1968-1979) by Albert and Federico Friedberg. Certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.
Textile fragment. Made in Gujarāt, India; used in Egypt. 1200-1499. Printed and resist dyed cotton tabby. 978.76.304 Abemayor Collection given in memory of Dr. Veronika Gervers, Associate Curator, Textile Department (1968-1979) by Albert and Federico Friedberg. Certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board under the terms of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.
Fellowship Year: 2015
Project Title: Indian Cotton for Cairo: An Unknown Textile Collection in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and New Insights on the Early Indian Ocean Textile Trade
Indian Cotton for Cairo: An Unknown Textile Collection in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and New Insights on the Early Indian Ocean Textile Trade
Dr. Barnes’ research focused on 24 previously unstudied textile fragments of block-printed cotton made in Gujarat for the Egyptian market, dating to sometime in the late medieval - early modern period. She studied them in detail in order to ascertain their likely provenance and functions, probable age, production techniques, iconography and stylistic traits through a comparison to similar fragments held in other museum collections in North America and Europe.
About the Fellow:
Dr. Ruth Barnes is an art historian specializing in South and Southeast Asian textiles. Currently she is the Thomas Jaffe Curator of Indo-Pacific Art at the Yale University Art Gallery, a member of the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies, and a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. She previously worked at the Pitt Rivers Museum and as the textile curator at the Ashmolean Museum. In addition to her extensive curatorial background, she has lectured in the faculties of Oriental Studies and Anthropology at the University of Oxford and SOAS in London.
Dr. Ruth Barnes is an art historian specializing in South and Southeast Asian textiles. Currently she is the Thomas Jaffe Curator of Indo-Pacific Art at the Yale University Art Gallery, a member of the Yale Council on Southeast Asia Studies, and a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. She previously worked at the Pitt Rivers Museum and as the textile curator at the Ashmolean Museum. In addition to her extensive curatorial background, she has lectured in the faculties of Oriental Studies and Anthropology at the University of Oxford and SOAS in London.
Related Publications: “Indian Cotton for Cairo: The Royal Ontario Museum’s Gujarati Textiles and the Early Western Indian Ocean Trade.” Textile History 48:1 (2007): 15-30. DOI: 10.1080/00404969.2017.1294814
“Indian Cotton for Cairo: The Royal Ontario Museum’s Gujarati Textiles and the Early Western Indian Ocean Trade.” Textile History 48:1 (2007): 15-30. DOI: 10.1080/00404969.2017.1294814