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2018.37.109

A length of Indigo dyed cloth, which has been calendered to produce a shiny surface. [AFS [OPS move] 6/8/2019] [ThW 3/2/2020]

2018.37.109

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Collection type
Object
Description
A length of Indigo dyed cloth, which has been calendered to produce a shiny surface. [AFS [OPS move] 6/8/2019] [ThW 3/2/2020]
Geographical reference
Yemen
Asia > Western Asia > Yemen
Beihan
Person
Maker Abdullah Nasi Shu'ban
Field collector Jenny Balfour-Paul
PRM source Jenny Balfour-Paul
Date / Period
Date made: 1989
Acquisition information
Donated: 03/03/2016
Materials and processes
Material Cotton Seed Fibre Textile Plant, Material Pigment, Process Dyed, Process Polished, Process Woven
Dimensions
Length x Width 2520 x 430 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 2018.37.109 Other numbers: SY2
Research and responses

Jenny Balfour-Paul discusses the making of indigo dye in Beihan in Indigo in the Arab World. Unlike most dyers in the 1980s who had converted to the synthetic dye, those at Beihan were still using natural indigo (the locally harvested indigofera argentea). Balfour-Paul states that in 1989 the dyers manufactured their own dye to meet demand, roughly once a month. Ref: Balfour-Paul, J., 1997. Indigo in the Arab World. Richmond: Curzon. [Joanna Cole 25/11/2022]

Associated publications
Balfour-Paul, Jenny, Indigo in the Arab World, Routledge, 1997 [AF [EFCF project] 23/8/2019] Balfour-Paul, Jenny, Indigo: Egyptian Mummies to Blue Jeans by , British Museum Press, 1998 [AF [EFCF project] 23/8/2019]

Search terms: Textile

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