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Model of a Baniya couple from Bhavnagar

1900/1935

Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum

Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum
Mumbai, India

One assumes that this has reference to a couple from Bhavnagar in Gujarat. The women wears a half sari over a skirt/ petticoat and a blouse. The style of draping and the front-pallu is similar to the one seen above, associated with the Gujarat, Rajasthan, Central India and Northern belts mentioned above. Her blouse is also similar. The man wears a similar dhoti in style, which is worn with a comparatively shorter tunic The style of wearing the scarf, with a slim woven border stands. This visual archetype - of an Indian-style tunic, with a dhoti/ lungi/ a scarf worn in various styles, a head gear representing a community/ caste/ regional identity became widely popular and a formula for a changing sartorial style for men in India as a result of the colonial encounter. This represents a phase from the transition of men's garments from particularly Indian to entirely Western as represented by the later uptake of the European-style trouser suit and jacket ensemble. In some cases during this period, we see the Indian-style tunic replaced by a European-style one, black in colour.

In both cases - in the Bhatia man and the Bhavnagri man, the headgear have a very broad forehead, in woven brocading using metallic yarns.

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  • Title: Model of a Baniya couple from Bhavnagar
  • Date: 1900/1935
  • Location: Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai
  • Material: Half baked terracotta clay and pigment
  • Gallery: Kamalnayan Bajaj Mumbai Gallery
Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum

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