Rumal with Rama and Krishna scenes
Unknown Artist
1700s
Medium
embroidery, silk, and silver wire on cotton
Dimensions
64.5 × 114 cm
Classification
Embroidery
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
Accession Number
1996.349
About this artwork
Royal and noble women of the western Himalayan valley of Chamba perfected the technique of double-sided embroidery in their creation of rumal, which they acquired as gifts on the occasion of their marriage. For this pictorial composition, an artist drew guide lines using a fine brush on handmade muslin, and women filled in the forms with brightly-colored untwisted silk floss. Inspired from Pahari paintings, scenes of Krishna with the gopis and cowherds coexist with Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana ador...