Painted "Chhatra" (Parasol)

King Somesvara dedicates a chapter of his 12th c. treatise on kingship, the Manasollasa, to describing the types of umbrellas (chhatra). While most are dedicated to creating shade at least one, the Atapatrachhatra, is also described as providing protection from rain. While Somesvara does provide details as to the various coverings one should put on the umbrella framework (i.e. white cloth, ribbons, peacock feathers, etc.), he does not describe the framework itself.

'A parasol of the Mauryan era' (4th-2nd c. BCE) was uncovered at an archaeological dig Langudi in Orissa according to one website, but I have been unable to locate any other information about this find.

Of the many parasols seen depicted in art, most appear to have some form of decoration, either pieced on in cloth or painted in some way. In addition the edges and undersides of canopies are often seen trimmed in beads or tassels.

Painted Cloth

According to author Sukla Das, an 8th century treatise entitled Kuvalaya Mala contains an entire chapter dedicated to the methods of painting on cloth, as well as information on the 72 Arts and 62 Sciences in general. She also references the testimony of Robert Finch, an Englishman who mentions painted cotton textiles in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh in 1583. Most surviving examples of painted textiles are religious scenes, primarily Buddhist and Jain in nature, and date no earlier than the 14th century. This lack of material evidence is not uncommon for any Indian artifact as the climate is unkind to most organic matter and the only items that tend to survive are those with great religious or cultural significance.

a Jain pata (ritual cloth)

late 15th c. CE

Materials & Techniques

Frame - Since the primary goal of this project was to make a shade-creating device for myself as quickly as possible I chose to purchase a pre-made cloth parasol with a bamboo frame. While I had hoped for a true silk the best I could find was a rayon-like material that does a fairly good job of masquerading as silk. Due to the pre-fabricated nature of the parasol I've been unable to do a burn test to verify fiber content. There are some small glue spots on the canopy from the manufacturing process, and these tended to not take paint as well as the rest of the canopy.

Painting - Originally I painted only the outlines of the motifs on the parasol using Jacquard Textile Color, an acrylic-based fabric paint that I'd had some experience with in the past. When I later chose to fill in the body of the parasol I used the same paint. After letting the first coat dry I was disappointed with the unevenness of the paint and applied two more coats of the same paint slightly thinned with water, which very slightly improved the result. I discovered that it was important to thin the paint with a little water to keep it flowing smoothly, and to use very soft brushes that would not force the paint down in to the fibers of the canopy fabric.

Lessons Learned

Paint vs. Dye - Getting the paint to apply evenly on the thin fabric turned out to be a challenge, and I am somewhat dissatisfied with the unevenness of the color. If I reproduce this type of project in the future I would do one of two things to prevent this:

1 - Use more typical silk painting techniques of resist and concentrated "dye" paints like Dye-Na-Flow or SetaSilk. Although resist dye techniques were common in India in the medieval period, I have seen no evidence that they were ever used on anything but yardage.

2 - Build up several thin layers of pigment, allowing each to dry between coats. This technique is seen in illumination/painting in India and Europe and might also have been used to create more even layers of paint on fabric.

Summary

This was an incredibly fun project, with a high "Oooooh!" Factor. While it would be nice to work with more period materials (pigments, etc.) I think I would like to have more hard evidence of what parasol frames would have actually been like in medieval India before engaging in such an undertaking. I will surely do more parasol painting in the future, and look forward to trying new techniques to get a more even color.

References

Behl, Benoy K. Ajanta Caves artistic wonder of ancient Buddhist India. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998.

Chishti, R̥ta Kapur. Handcrafted Indian textiles. New Delhi: Lustre P, Roli Books, 2000.

Cummins, Joan. Indian Painting. Minneapolis: MFA Publications, 2006.

Das, Sukla. Fabric art, heritage of India. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1992.

"Langudi Buddhist Monuments in Orissa, Archaeological Site of Langudi India, Buddhist Monuments in Langudi India." Langudi Buddhist Monuments in Orissa, Archaeological Site of Langudi India. 02 June 2009 <http://www.indiasite.com/archaeology/langudi.html>.

Sivaramamurti, C. South Indian Paintings. New Delhi: National Museum, 1994.