Dye-Patterned Silk

Dye-Patterned Silk

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This multicolored Indian silk made its way to China, where it was used to line the embroidered Chinese coverlet with the dragon center. The pattern was produced by clamp-resist dying—an ingenious technique for producing polychrome textiles. A folded cloth is tightly pressed and clamped between pairs of wooden blocks carved with the desired decorative pattern. Then the whole unit is immersed in a dye bath. Drilled channels in the blocks enable dye to flow into selected areas. Channels for different colors allow dyes to be applied sequentially, as openings are sealed or unsealed for each hue. cat. no. 2

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.