Printed Bedsheet, Cotton

Block printed textiles were an integral part of the dress code in India and widely used in both public and private spaces, for rituals and celebrations amongst other areas. Block printing was practised at several well-known centres in the former princely state of United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) in cities like Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Tanda and Banaras. Farrukhabad, Lucknow and Kanauj are said to hav shared a common design vocabulary that included motifs like keri (mango), buta/buti motifs of flowers and floral sprigs. This block printed bedsheet from Lucknow has floral desings forming a keri-shaped (mango) pattern in the entire body of the textile.