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SHILPI's range of hand block printed home furnishings that
include duvet covers, bed spreads, drapes, cushion covers,
curtains, pillow covers, table cloths, valances and shower
curtains are sourced from the desert state of Rajasthan, where
entire villages derive their livelihood from the craft of hand
block printing. One gets the sense of being caught in a time
warp as camel drawn carts, laden with logs of shesham and bales
of fabric, sashay their way down chaotic dusty streets, enabling
with every step the metamorphosis of their cargo into gorgeously
hued hand block printed textiles.
The block-printed cottons of Jaipur have been renowned for their
exquisite pattern, and coloring for at least two hundred and
fifty years. Traditional prints favored greatly by the Mughal
Emperors and their imperial courts, featured delicate floral
sprays, spaced evenly on a white, pastel blue or yellow ground
of fine cotton. While designing our collection of home
furnishings it has been our endeavor to fuse traditional flavor
with a good dose of modern aesthetic sensibility.
The tradition of hand block printing has continued to exist on a
parallel universe, stubbornly resistant to industrialization,
and is to this day practiced without the aid of mechanization or
computerization. It is this defiant indifference to
mechanization that gives block printing the aura of a pure craft
form and makes block printed textiles so esteemed. Traditionally
these textiles played an integral part of village life. However,
with the introduction of mill prints and easy to maintain wash
and wear synthetics, these textiles are gradually losing their
appeal to the village consumer. It is only a growing
appreciation of this craft in urban and export markets that is
keeping this ebbing craft alive.
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