Paintings of plants, textile designs from various countries and even natural dyes that have remained hidden for centuries finest designs, garments made out of cotton, silk, muslin and wool, woven with gold and silver threads dating back to the same time or even earlier, are now accessible with a single click
Textile designs and natural dyes, several centuries old, were once used in Kabul and Herat and other countries such as Iran and Uzbekistan in the west to Singapore and Thailand in the east, along with those in India in the 19th century, are now just a click away.
The Botanical Survey of India (BSI), has digitally archived all its collections.
“It is a huge repository. Paintings of plants, textile designs from various countries and even natural dyes that have remained hidden for centuries finest designs, garments made out of cotton, silk, muslin and wool, woven with gold and silver threads dating back to the same time or even earlier, are now accessible with a single click.”
They will be very useful not just for botanists but also professionals working in the field of fashion and garment technology,” said AA Mao, director of BSI.
The original set of 2,532 plant drawings made by William Roxburgh, a Scottish botanist and physician who was known as ‘Father of Indian Botany’ has also been digitised.
The collection contains the original set of 15 volumes of 19th-century British businessman Thomas Wardle’s specimens of Fabrics dyed with Indian Dyes. It has information on 4,100 samples of dye patterns, extracted from 64 plants, depicting Indian dying traditions, compiled by Wardle in 19th century and is considered one of the most comprehensive and complete documentation, said senior BSI officials. The archive also contains 18 volumes of textile designs comprising 1,700 samples, starting with turbans, saree, dhoti, trouser, carpet, mosquito curtain, coat, shawl, tent cloth, gowns and even saddle cloths among others, compiled by John Forbes Watson between 1866 and 1874.
“You may find the design of a choga (long-sleeved robe) worn in Afghanistan’s Herat province in the 19th century, design of a Cashmere shawl woven by artisans at Kangra in Himachal Pradesh in the 1850s or the design on a gown made of camel hair known as Burruch and worn by Europeans and natives of Mashhad province of Iran almost 200 years ago,” said a BSI official.
“Historical evidences suggest that since ancient times, India has been known to traditionally use natural dyes such as Indigo, Madder and Kermes, extracted both from plants and animals including lac- a red dye extract from the scale insect Laccifer lacca and cochineal- a scale insect from which the natural dye carmine is derived.
India is now the second Asian country after China to provide open access to its huge collections of type specimens (original specimens collected by scientists and stored in the BSI)
The archive also contains information on such dyes that were not only used for colouring garments, but also in medicines and for camouflaging during battle,” said a BSI official.
“India is the second country after the United Kingdom which made Roxburgh’s drawing online for the public. The digitised materials of the archives are the most accurate means of recording natural specimens and also easier to store and transport. There are 3,280 life-size botanical paintings other than Roxburgh paintings drawn by Indian artists,” said Mao.
India is now the second Asian country after China to provide open access to its huge collections of type specimens (original specimens collected by scientists and stored in the BSI).
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