The Botanical Survey of India has digitized its entire textile collection

8th September 2021, Mumbai:

The Botanical Survey of India has made its collection of traditional textile samples from around South Asia available to designers all over the world through a free online database on its website. “It's a massive archive.

“With a single click, you can access paintings of flora, textile patterns from other nations, and even natural colors that have been concealed for centuries,” BSI director AA Mao told the Hindustan Times. “They will be extremely beneficial not only for botanists but also for specialists in the field of fashion and garment technology,” says the author.

An original set of 15 volumes created by 19th century British trader Thomas Wardle showing specimens of textiles colored with Indian dyes is now part of the digitized collection. The volumes provide data on 4,100 dye pattern samples collected from 64 plants. This online library has a large collection of traditional textile patterns and dyeing processes that may be searched for free. Between 1866 and 1874, John Forbes Watson produced 18 volumes of textile patterns, totaling 1,700 examples, which are now available online.

“You might find the design of a choga [long-sleeved robe] worn in Afghanistan's Herat province in the 19th century, the design of a Cashmere shawl woven by artisans in Kangra in Himachal Pradesh in the 1850s, or the design on a Burruch gown made of camel hair worn by Europeans and natives of Mashhad province of Iran almost 200 years ago,” said BSI's technical section in-charge SS.

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