Hand Printing Blocks, India

This highly skilled craftsman carves intricate blocks for printing fabric.

He carves ancient designs and he takes on commissions for new designs. See the Canadian designs on the left. He is making blocks for a Canadian textile artist.

The Process of Hand Block Printing

One of the displays in the Anokhi Museum I was most impressed with was a sequence of waistcoats that showed the numerous steps involved in hand block printing & dying a textile. Stage one, the textile is treated with Chebulic Myroballan so the pastes & dyes will stick.

Stage 2, The textile is printed with a begar paste (alum) wherever a dark burgundy red is required.

Stage 3, A 2nd mordant paste (again with a temporary tint to guide the printer) is applied to the lighter red areas.

Stage 4, Horseshoes & molassas fermented into a sticky brown paste, oxidises to black when added.

Anokhi Museum, Amber, Jaipur

The Anokhi company, among other activities, helped revive the local hand block printing industry by supporting artisans & their families. It produces block printed garments & products that they sell in their Indian & international retail outlets.

They renovated & restored this old mansion and established a museum to showcase the history of hand block printing and to regularly exhibit work by contemporary clothing designers.