Embroidered Histories: Indian Textiles for the Portuguese Market during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 9783205202097

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EMBROIDERED HISTORIES

Indian Textiles for the Portuguese Market during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Barbara Karl

2016 BÖHLAU VERLAG WIEN KÖLN WEIMAR

Printed with the support of the Ruth Bleckwenn Stiftung

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Cataloging-in-publication data: http://dnb.d-nb.de © 2016 by Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Wien Köln Weimar Wiesingerstraße 1, A-1010 Wien, www.boehlau-verlag.com

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Final Editing: Abigail Prohaska Cover design: Michael Haderer, Wien Typesetting: Bettina Waringer, Wien Printing and binding: Dimograf, Bielsko Biala Printed on acid-free and chlorine-free bleached paper Printed in the EU ISBN 978-3-205-20209-7

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 EMBROIDERED HISTORIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

COLCHAS IN THE SOCIOECONOMIC NETWORKS OF THE TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CONSUMERS AND TASTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

DATES, ITINERARIES, PROVENANCES AND SOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Early Travel Accounts and Historical Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Colchas in the Early Records of the EEIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 THE PRODUCTION CENTRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Gujarat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Bengal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

COLCHAS BETWEEN INDIA AND EUROPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Merchants as Agents of Exchange: Filippo Sassetti and the Medici . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Portuguese Inventories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Colchas in the Habsburg Gift-Giving Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 RECEPTION AND USE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 MATERIAL, COLOUR, TECHNIQUE AND DESIGNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

BENGAL COLCHAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 The Phases of Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 The Groups of Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Iconography of Bengal Colchas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 COLCHAS FROM GUJARAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Division into Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 CONCLUDING REMARKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

CATALOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 BENGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

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GUJARAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294 Image Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 List of Colchas Considered for this Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295 INDEX OF RELEVANT PLACES AND PERSONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

To my parents Edith Moritz and Ingo Karl and to my Doktormutter Ebba Koch

Acknowledgements

This book grew out of a dissertation that I prepared at the University of Vienna between 2001 and 2004, under the generous and inspiring supervision of Prof. Ebba Koch, whose patience and enduring support accompanied this project right from the start and to whom I would like to extend my profound gratitude. This study would not have taken shape without the support of my family, friends, colleagues, my professors and fellow researchers: I thank my parents, Edith Moritz and Ingo Karl, for their encouragement and financial support as well as my aunt Uta Karl for her inspiring advice. I thank Markus Neuwirth, the joint supervisor of my thesis who made my first Erasmus year in Lisbon possible. The Austrian Academy of Sciences provided me a generous DOC scholarship without which I would not have been able to prepare my thesis in the form I finally did. Without the enduring support of Birgitt Borkopp-Restle and the Ruth Bleckwenn Stiftung, Giorgio Riello and the Pasold research fund and Böhlau’s trust in the project the publication would not have been possible, thank you. I thank the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and the Warburg Institute in London for their kind reception. I also thank all the museums and institutions mentioned in the book and their respective curators who generously provided me with information and images and let me view the objects. Especially the colleagues at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga where I made a long internship. I thank the textile curator Teresa Pacheco Pereira, Maria Elena Mendes Pinto and my dear colleagues Celina Bastos, Anísio Franco, Ana Kol and Maria João Vilhena. I am grateful for the generosity of the then directress of the Museu Nacional do Traje Madalena Braz Teixeira, Fernanda Passos Leite and Nuno Vassalo e Silva both of the Museu Gulbenkian, Maria Maia e Castro from the Museu Soares os Reis in Porto, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Maria Jõao Pacheco Ferreira, Pedro Cardim and Carla Alferes Pinto. I also thank Luís Frederico Dias Antunes, and especially Pedro Pinto for their invaluable and generous sharing of Portuguese source material and Susana Pedroso for sharing her mestrado-thesis. I especially thank Robert Skelton for his inspiring ideas, Rosemary Crill and Susan Stronge from the Victoria & Albert Museum and Santina Levey from Hardwick Hall for their valuable information; also Selene Sconci from the Museo Palazzo Venezia in Rome and Emese Pásztor from the Musum of Applied Arts in Budapest. The project also took me to the USA where I was generously received by Daniel Walker then still curator at the Metropolitan Museum and Melinda Watt, Bonnie Halvorson at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum and Lauren Whitley from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I would also like to thank Dwipanjali Roy and Lotika Varadarajan for their support in India. I am deeply indebted to friends and fellow researchers who provided valuable linguistic and scholarly insights: Fernando

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Bouza Alvarez, Pedro Cardim, Roberto Davini, Antje Flüchter, Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis, Maximilian Hartmuth, Urte Krass, Peter Mark, Lia Markey – always a great inspiration – and Corinne Mühlemann, Christiane Papa-Kalantari, Abigail Prohaska, who undertook the final correcting and editing of the text, Roopanjali Roy, who tirelessly accompanied me through India, Anne Wanner and Ines Zupanov. Thanks to Ursula Huber and Bettina Waringer – both Böhlau Verlag – and to my husband Karlo Ruzicic-Kessler, who patiently accompanied the later stages of the project. Finally I thank the diligent anonymous reviewers for their important advice, which much improved the book. Translating and transforming from German a PhD thesis into a readable English book entails a lot of work, compromise and patience. In the process I abridged the thesis dramatically, adapted many of the initial findings and developed several initial thoughts. Material for this book was collected all over Europe, in the USA and in India. My discovery of the world of colchas was not love at first sight. While studying at the Universidade Nova of Lisbon in 1998, I was actively looking for a topic pertaining to the Portuguese expansion, a historical chapter that had intrigued me since I was a teenager. I first encountered the colchas at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon. My approach towards them is quite revealing in the sense that the exhibited colchas were almost monochrome and needed the proverbial second, even third look. Once that barrier was overcome and I started to observe the textiles more attentively, I was soon drawn into the complex world of the cross connections they conveyed. Vienna, July 12, 2015 Barbara Karl

EMBROIDERED HISTORIES



An empire was established in the course of maritime expansion of the early modern period, a realm that had no clearly drawn frontiers and rather diminutive territorial dimensions, but in sixteenth-century Europe was counted amongst the richest of its time: Portugal and its overseas possessions in Africa, America and Asia. The so-called Portuguese Estado da Índia spanned numerous territories and strongholds in Asia and Africa.1 During the sixteenth century and parts of the seventeenth Portugal was the dominant power on the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. Its power and brilliance went down in the annals of history, and in Portugal memories of this empire are encountered at every turn. Along the coasts of the old trade routes, in Africa, America, India and South-East Asia, the vestiges of fortresses and cities bear witness to the impact of the Portuguese expansion and recall the feats of their seafarers. The famed Portuguese ships controlled a large part of the trade routes in the seas of South Asia and these vessels likewise transported forms and ideas between eastern and the western regions. The encounters of European travellers with different cultures and their reaction to local artistic traditions were amply reflected in the sphere of the arts. Portuguese colonial society in India had shown a refined interest in the luxurious styles of local Indian self-representation since the early sixteenth century. For practical reasons and in order to compete visually with the local sovereigns, they adapted art forms and certain customs for their own purposes. Through combination, adaptation and filtration of different techniques, styles and ideas new artistic solutions were explored in the various fields of the arts ranging from architecture to painting, from printing to objects of decorative arts and textiles, many of which still survive today. These diverse influences spanned boundaries and left traces in the artistic traditions of Asia and Europe. The exchange of goods and ideas within the network of European expansion is continually gaining importance in the context of a transcultural, intercontinental network that intensified over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. International trading contacts are as old as history itself and developed down the ages to shape the integrated global economy of our times. The early modern period was termed the first global age.2 In this context, it is essential to point out the importance of the economic contacts of Islamic expansion – also reinforcing older networks – that had reached the Indian Subcontinent in the 1 2

Translations of quotations from Portuguese, German and Italian into English were made by the author. Riello 2009a, pp. 26–287; Parthasarathi/Riello, 2012, pp. 145–170.

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eighth century; its influence slowly spread from Sindh to Bengal and into the Deccan thereby linking India more closely to Central Asian markets and consequently (especially via Cairo and Alexandria) to Europe. The Islamic expansion into Asia via maritime routes served as a basis for the Portuguese networks and it continued after the Portuguese arrived in the region.3 For example, the seventeenth century witnessed the Islamisation of vast parts of East Bengal, modern day Bangladesh.4 It is important to keep in mind that when the Portuguese established the Cape Route around Africa they made inroads into a well-established trading system. Alongside the well-known spices and drugs, many easily transportable and exquisite objects of art were traded to Portugal from Asia. From Lisbon these luxury goods found their way into the European market and consequently into the famous princely collections of the time, such as those of the Habsburgs, Wittelsbacher, Valois and Medici.5 Contemporary princely dowries and diplomatic missions listed exotic goods, such as precious stones from Golconda, mother-of-pearl plates and inlaid chests from Gujarat, ivory carvings from Africa or Ceylon, Chinese porcelain and valuable textiles from all over Asia. Textiles were the most important commercially manufactured trade goods in Asia up to the early nineteenth century. This was highlighted in the important exhibition Interwoven Globe, which recently pointed out the many facets of international textile trade during the early modern period.6 This study focuses on a specific group of embroidered textiles commissioned by the Portuguese and produced in Bengal and Gujarat during the heyday of the Portuguese presence in Asia. The fact that the production centres for this particular craft were located along the coast has great relevance, since these areas were easily accessible to foreign traders. Thus, these items were integrated into Asian trade by both sea and land routes.7 The densely embroidered colchas – as they were called by the Portuguese – have roughly the same dimensions as medium-sized carpets (roughly 3 to 2.50 metres). They are embroidered on cotton and silk. The Portuguese and Spanish word colcha (colja) has Latin roots: culcita meaning mattress or pillow. One also finds colxa or colches in historical Portuguese records. The Vocabulario portuguez e latino by Raphael Bluteau defines colchas as thin bedcovers with quilted layers of cotton. As a subgroup Bluteau highlighted colchas embroidered with hunting scenes (de monatria). The term colcha was used in the inventories of Portuguese households and the records of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century merchants to identify the textiles dealt with in this study. The use of the expression colcha for the large embroi3 4 5 6 7

See for example: Goitein, 1934, pp. 181–197; Thapar, 1966; Abu Lughod, 1991. Eaton, 1993. See: Gaeta Bertelà, 1993; Gaeta Bertelà, 2002; the catalogue of the Kunsthistorische Museum Wien: Vienna, 2000 and: Trnek/Haag (eds.), 2001. Peck, 2013. See: Irwin, 1971; Irwin Chintzes, 1970; Irwin Historical Perspective, 1956; Irwin/Hall, 1973; Brij Bushan, 1990; Barnes/Crill/Cohen, 2002.

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deries produced in India is itself a compromise, for the English translation as quilt or bedcover is insufficient and limiting, since they were not just used as bedcovers but for diverse decorative purposes in palatial and church contexts. Here the Portuguese term allows greater latitude for interpretation. Two classification schemes for colchas were developed by Maria José de Mendonça and John Irwin around the middle of the twentieth century. While the former chose attribution according to pattern, the latter opted for a geographic division.8 Irwin’s scheme was considered more apt to discuss the colchas relevant for this study; it was further developed in order to accommodate the different types of colchas. Geography distributes the colchas chosen for study here into two main groups: Bengal and Gujarati colchas. The most representative examples of the Bengal group combine elements from the Old Testament, Greek and Roman mythology and Christian symbols with local Bengalo-Islamic influences in allegorical programmes. Most have an undyed white cotton ground and are embroidered with undyed yellow silk, called tussar. The second main group was produced in Gujarat, in the western part of India, which is open to the Arabian Sea and incorporates Cambay and Surat, the most important ports of the Indian Subcontinent. This group is more heterogeneous. The Gujarati colchas are characterised by bright colours and a more generous and thus more accessible division of design. Not surprisingly, the largest quantity of colchas survives today in Portuguese collections: the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Museu Nacional do Traje host the largest collections of colchas world-wide. Besides, one finds colchas in a large number of smaller provincial museums and private and ecclesiastical collections of the country. The collections of the most impressive colchas outside Portugal are in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Since the nineteenth century, decorative art objects from the former Estado da Índia, have commonly been dubbed Indo-Portuguese. The term as such was used to designate decorative art objects produced along the sea-routes of the age, often without making exact geographical distinctions. Any remotely exotic item was called Indo-Portuguese, whether it came from Japan or the Americas or even the Iberian Peninsula, since their exact origins were not known at that time. Researchers were aware of the problematic and subsequently readapted the expression to their needs, discussed its problematic, or used alternatives.9 Research developed and has shed light on the origins of many of the object groups that were formerly subsumed under the designation Indo-Portuguese. This study has deliberately avoided using the term Indo-Portuguese and hence the textiles are described as being from Bengal or Gujarat made for the Portuguese market. One has to keep in mind that in 8 9

Mendonça, 1949; Irwin, 1952. Irwin, Trade Textiles, 1955; Irwin, 1957. Sousa Viterbo, 1882, p. 34; Vasconceslos, 1882; Keil, 1940, pp. 161–172; Santos, 1954, pp. 3–15; Irwin, Reflections, 1955, pp. 386–388; Cagigal e Silva, 1966; Tavares e Távora, 1983; Vicente, 2004, p. 82; Pacheco Ferreira, 2007, pp. 49–55.

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this case the ones who fabricated the textiles after all were Indian craftsmen, the Portuguese only functioned as commissioners. In this study the designation Portuguese has to be viewed with wider connotations, bearing in mind the complex international and intercultural nature of the Portuguese trading community (including for instance many Italians). It is also important to note the more approximate view of world geography during the period in question: maps still retained many blank spots and were accessible to but a limited group of people. This is reflected in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century inventories that are not always reliable with regard to the origin of the objects described. Geographical distinctions have to be dealt with carefully. Quite commonly, an item described as indiano in the records actually turned out to be from somewhere else in Asia or from the Americas. The newly acquired territories were roughly distributed into the East Indies (Asia) and the West Indies (America), a designation that created numerous misunderstandings. 10 The incomplete picture many contemporaries had of Asia and Asian art production is well reflected in a passage of a letter by Filippo Sassetti, a exceptionally learned Florentine trader who, travelling to Goa, was also hoping to see Greek relics and vestiges of Alexander the Great in South India – this illustrates how vague geographical and historical concepts of the subcontinent were even among erudite Europeans.11 A well-known quotation by the famous Sir Thomas Roe, the British ambassador to the imperial court of Jahangir (1605 - 1628), reveals that even widely travelled Europeans of the age knew little about Asian cultural production. In his letter to the Earl of Southampton, he wrote: “I thought all India a China Shop, and that I should furnish all my Frendes with rarietyes; but this is not that part. Here are almost no Ciuill arts, but such as straggling Christians haue lately taught.”12 Local Indian art products did not please the ambassador, who apparently assumed that India was the source of the Asian art market. Before going to India his eye had been trained on pre-selected Asian art objects that were bought in the commercial centres of India to be sold in Europe. Evidently these objects did not accurately reflect contemporary Indian art. Contemporary records, such as inventories, only rarely distinguish between Indian and Chinese items in their descriptions and often generically dub them as Indian.13 In the case of the Indian colchas, the sources, especially Portuguese documents – often being one or 10 Given the complex political and religious situation on the subcontinent it is difficult to speak of one “India” during the period in question (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). The colchas are part of the sultanate and later the Mughal Indian sphere that was politically dominated by Muslims. The political Portuguese influence was limited to some trade posts along the coast. Even though it was occasionally used to designate the newly experienced territories in East and West during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the term India as part of the Portuguese sphere of influence dealt with in this book is very limited as well. 11 Bramanti, 1970, pp. 295–299, letter to Baccio Valori from Lisbon, December 18, 1581. 12 Foster, 1967, pp. 133–134. 13 Markey/ Keating, 2011, pp. 283–300.

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two steps closer to the source of information – are gererally more precise and sometimes indicate the region of production: the area of Cambay in Gujarat and the Satgaon/Hugli area in Bengal.14 Much was written about systems of contacts and exchange, of cores and peripheries. Terms like cultural entanglements, networks and exchanges, boundaries and zones of transitions, hybridisation and syncretisation are used profusely and also play a part while analysing the colchas.15 As export products the colchas clearly make a case for cultural transfers but this theoretical framework is somewhat narrow in relation to the dynamic entanglement of this large and complex group of textiles. The concept of cultural transfers encompasses intercultural exchanges and includes reciprocal actions. It deals with manifold points and spheres of transmissions between different cultures. Scholars such as Michel Espagne, Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Matthias Middell, Jürgen Osterhammel or Rolf Reichardt have researched relations between cultures.16 While they might have emphasised European interactions they also went beyond these boundaries. In the wider context, a cultural transfer should be perceived as a dynamic process generating a displacement and exchange of cultural elements. A more linear model of cultural transfer combines three main factors: firstly, the culture of departure, secondly, the mediators between cultures, and thirdly, the receiving culture. As shall be seen in the context of the colchas, their case was not really as stringent as this concept envisages. Culture is not considered to be a stable entity, and society is not perceived as a homogeneous concept, but both are viewed instead – so the theory elaborates – as perpetually changing, dynamic structures. Culture and society are not perceived as closed entities but represent combinations of different languages, forms, discourses, power structures etc. The multiple relations within these hybrid cultures are in constant flux, both spatially as well as temporally;17 a tendency which is without doubt particularly relevant with regard to Portuguese colonial society and trade in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century India. Remarkable against the theoretical background of cultural transfers is the situation of the sixteenth century in general and of Europeans in and around India in particular. As for the colchas, this concept seems comparatively apt but also has its limits. In this case the dynamic starts with processes of selecting forms and ideas in the culture of departure, i.e. the Iberian Peninsula – then an economic periphery. The options taken here from European cultural tradition were mainly transmitted through prints and have their origins in hellenist Antiquity and were fashionable in European courtly society. The mediators of this 14 Karl, 2011. 15 Hannerz, 2002. 16 Espagne, 1999; Osterhammel, 2001; Lüsebrink, 2005; Middell, 2001, pp. 15–52; Reichardt, 2007, pp. 3–16. 17 See also: Mitterbauer/Scherke (eds.), 2005; Conrad/Randeria (eds.), 2002; North (ed.), 2009.

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process, the cultural agents, were primarily merchants and – to a lesser degree – missionaries, who had access to and understanding of printed material and took it to India, then an economic core region. Soon recognising the varied potential and opportunities offered by Indian textile wealth, the Portuguese gradually adapted the style and subject matter of the textiles they found to their taste in situ in order to create a new product that visualised European presence in India. They profited from local economic practices and experimented by introducing European forms into a pre-existing formal vocabulary in India, more precisely in the areas of Bengal and Gujarat. Both regions were age-old commercial centres with a brisk transit trade and had experienced historical phases with manifold cultural, economic and political interactions. The local craftsmen, working in and around commercial centres, thus received these new forms as just another element to supplement their vast pool of designs. This process is comparable to what happened on a courtly level at the Mughal court during the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries where adapted models of European art had a profound impact on artistic production;18 the colchas however were a commercial product and the transfer did not only go one way from Portugal to India. The merchants, as agents of exchange, organised the trade and created a demand for novel and rare items first in Portugal and then beyond Portuguese frontiers. As will be discussed, once the colchas and other exotic objects were exported from India, they triggered a new round of transfers influencing different Portuguese, European and American productions. India has an age-old and extremely rich textile tradition. Embroidered textiles similar to the colchas were produced in India long before the arrival of the Portuguese. Every region has its own particular styles and techniques. Different kinds of quilts have been made all over the Indian Subcontinent throughout the ages. Worn-out clothes were not thrown away but reused instead: several layers of cloth were laid upon each other and were sewn together to be used in Indian homes. Most of them were very simple but some pieces were painted, printed or embroidered.19 This large domestic production was, however, quite distinct from the textiles that were commercially produced for local consumers of luxury goods and for the export trade – the subject of this study – and which had to satisfy the tastes of very different consumers all around the Indian Ocean and beyond. The colchas commissioned by the Portuguese are among the oldest Indian embroideries to have survived to modern times. Given Indian climatic conditions, almost all existing pieces were found outside the Indian Subcontinent. They were one amongst the many types of Indian textiles that were exported. Commissioned by the Portuguese in Gujarat and Bengal they were the product of a fusion of different forms and ideas triggered by a cultural transfer – a meaningful collage of elements from different cultural backgrounds that were not too exotic for the tastes of the European clientele but considered rare enough 18 Koch, 2001. 19 Crill, 1999.

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to be desirable. From early surviving objects one can deduce that very similar embroideries were initially made for the largely Muslim local and export trade network; with the arrival of the Portuguese the colchas were gradually adapted to European tastes. Asian consumers probably considered these new European influences to be as exotic as the novel Indian elements were to the European clients. The different consumers interpreted and probably also used the colchas in different ways. The adaptation of European forms to Indian artworks went hand in hand with the adaptation of the Portuguese newcomers to their new Indian surroundings, which left many of them overwhelmed. Apart from the fusion of forms, a social fusion also occurred as many of the Portuguese merchants of the Estado da Índia adopted local lifestyles and married local women, thus creating not only hybrid artistic expressions but also mixed social circumstances, i.e. the so called mestizos for the Portuguese and half-castes for the Indians. The colchas were just one reflection of this mélange, which cut through all strata of colonial production and society, and have to be viewed against this entangled background, since they directly resulted from it and reflect the interconnected world of the early modern period and the rise of Portugese power in India. As tradable goods, these artworks embodied Portuguese economic and social strategies within the networks of the early modern period. No comprehensive study on colchas has been attempted hitherto. In the mid-twentieth century John Irwin, Margaret Hall, Maria José de Mendonça and Maria Madalena Cagigal e Silva, Cyril Bunt, Agnes Geijer, Marian Estabrook Moeller, Reynaldo dos Santos and Georg Garde each made important contributions to the field.20 In particular John Irwin, then keeper of the Indian Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum, extensively studied the role of Indian trade textiles in Europe and convincingly attributed the colchas to Bengal and Gujarat respectively.21 In 1978 the only important exhibition on colchas to date was held in Kensington Palace in London.22 After this exhibition, many individual pieces featured in different exhibitions and publications about the Portuguese expansion or about Indian art.23 In more recent years scholars such as Maria Helena Mendes Pinto, Lotika Varadarajan, Fernanda Passos Leite, Rosemary Crill, Teresa Pacheco Pereira and Pedro Moura Carvalho have published relevant articles on the subject, recently Susana Pedroso dedicated her mestrado to the discussion of one important colcha.24 This book is the first attempt to provide an overview of a part of this complex group of textiles that are today stored and exhibited in collections around the globe, from Japan and 20 Bunt, 1942, pp. 277; Cagigal e Silva, 1966; Estabrook-Moeller, 1948, pp. 117–132; Mendonça, 1949; Mendonça, 1955; Geijer, 1951; Santos, 1970, pp. 193–224; Garde, 1970. 21 See: Irwin, 1952; Irwin, 1957, p. 59–74; Irwin, 1959; Irwin, Textile Trade, 1955. 22 Exh. cat.: London, 1978. 23 E.g.: Lisbon, 1945; Coimbra, 1963; Rom, 1981; Pollig/Osterwold, 1987; Brussels, De Goa a Lisboa, 1991; Brussels, Via Orientalis, 1991; Bordeaux, 1998; Levenson (ed.), 2007. 24 Passos Leite, 1999, pp. 361; Crill, 2004, pp. 87–91; Pacheco Pereira, 2006 pp. 44–57; Varadarajan, 2005, pp. 251–260; Dutta, 2006, pp. 316; Moura Carvalho, 2008, pp. 8–22; Pedroso, 2003.

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India to Portugal, the United Kingdom and the USA.25 It focuses on the time period from the middle of the sixteenth to the end of the seventeenth century, when the Estado da Índia had considerable influence in the maritime regions and colcha production flourished.26 The study shows how the later textile production evolved during the time of transition from Portuguese to Dutch and English presence in the later seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century. In this time span of one hundred and fifty years the iconographic vocabulary of the colchas was constantly developed and adapted first to the taste of the mainly Iberian market, later to the taste of the northern European market, largely reformed in religion. New inspiration for forms was not only introduced by the European agents but also from North India. During the first half of the seventeenth century Mughal art entered in its classical phase with the reign of the Grand Mughal Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal initiated in 1632.27 Constant new formal inputs from Europe and North India enriched the design vocabulary of the production of luxury textiles in Gujarat as well as Bengal that constantly readapted its designs to increasing international consumer groups. The study aims to integrate the colchas into a broader cultural, historical and economic context, to classify them in groups, to establish a chronology and decipher their iconography. It describes the most representative examples of colchas in order to illustrate their development and focuses on pieces which can be classified into coherent groups. However, choices had to be made, since it was impossible to discuss all known colchas in this study. A list at the end of this book names and briefly describes all examples studied while researching this topic. In addition, pieces are not featured that are not related to the main groups defined herein; these provide ample material for further study. Moreover, exact technical and chemical analyses of the individual pieces remain a desideratum; they will in the future enable a better classification of the textiles. The inclusion of extensive source material, such as letters or inventories, will be useful for scholarly research. The colchas analysed in this book were produced between the second half of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is difficult to establish an exact timeframe since the transition is hazy between productions for the Portuguese and then for the Dutch and English.28 The author hopes that this book encourages further studies in the fascinating field of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Indian artistic production for the vast colonial Portuguese/Spanish and European markets.

25 In the author’s PhD thesis: Karl, 2004b. During the PhD a corpus of about 100 colchas were studied. In this book the most telling examples were chosen. 26 E.g.: Boyajian, 1993. 27 See: Koch, 2001. 28 See Prakash, 1985.



Colchas in the Socioeconomic Networks of the Time

The political and socioeconomic developments in extended Portuguese India depended on the respective situations not only in Asia but also in Europe, one of the consumer markets of Indian products and the market for which the colchas were produced. The following discusses some of the developments illustrating the reciprocal influences and their relevance for colchas. Portugal was doubtlessly the main European player in Asia during the sixteenth century. From 1580 to 1640 the kingdom was ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs who were kings of both Portugal and Spain. Philip II of Spain truly ruled over an empire in which the sun never set, including the Estado da Índia. The Spanish Habsburgs were busy keeping their dominions under control: Portugal became an increasingly peripheral and dissatisfied viceroyalty, while the Spanish Netherlands were tied up in a destructive war of independence.29 The second half of the sixteenth century witnessed a growth in Portuguese private trade in Asia. Since pepper and other spices were part of the royal monopoly and therefore could not be traded officially by private merchants, the latter were attracted to other items, above all textiles of different kinds, which promised lucrative returns and were of crucial importance for private trade with Europe and within Asia. They were the most important trade commodity on the carreira back to Lisbon and the preferred means of payment on the Spice Islands, where they were exchanged for spices and other raw materials. Since textiles were not part of the Portuguese crown’s spice monopolies, according to James Boyajian they comprised up to 70% of the value of registered private trade between Goa and Lisbon in the early seventeenth century. During this peak of private trade about eight hundred thousand pieces of cloth from Asia were annually imported to Lisbon.30 However, as compared to the vast intra-Asian market, the market share remained small, with approximately three ships sailing annually to Lisbon on the carreira da India. Owing to the good quality, comparatively low prices and high demand in the Iberian markets (including America), the volume of Indian export textiles increased steadily.31 In this context the magnificently embroidered colchas changed from being exclusive diplomatic gifts or exotic souvenirs into marketable trade products that were meant to be sold to wealthy households. However, they constituted only a fraction of the textiles imported via the route linking Goa and Lisbon. 29 See: Bethencourt/Chaudhuri, 1998; Thomaz, 1998. 30 Boyajian, 1993, p. 130 and 139. 31 See: Boyajian, 1993.

20

Colchas in the Socioeconomic Networks of the Time

Not all Indian export textiles were predestined for the wealthier classes. Bulk textiles were simple fabrics and transported to Lisbon in great quantities and different qualities, often to be re-exported. Cotton in tabby weave was not a very expensive novelty and could be tailored easily into shirts and other garments altering the dressing habits of some Europeans. In 1606 for instance the Florentine merchant Francesco Carletti returned to Florence after having travelled the globe for several years and around that time showed one of the many cotton shirts he brought from India to the interested Grand Duke Ferdinando de’ Medici.32 Until about 1600 the Portuguese faced little competition in the Asian seas. This changed with the arrival of the English East India Company (founded in 1600, hereafter EEIC) and the Dutch Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (founded in 1602, hereafter VOC). In 1612 the EEIC received the official permission of the Great Mughal Jahangir to open a factory in Gujarat; the European mercantile structures had to live and trade next to one another. The new arrivals doubtlessly profited from the Portuguese knowledge of the markets. The Mughals played a double game with them and initially profited from the presence and presents of European powers: The more trade, the more taxes for the emperor. The EEIC steadily increased its influence in India.33 From 1618, the European powers were engaged in the religiously motivated Thirty Years’ War, which had repercussions also in the overseas dominions. At about the same time England was disrupted by the interlude of Oliver Cromwell’s republic. In Portugese India a general crisis in trade between 1620 and 1640 caused by the growing presence of the Dutch and English was not favourable to Portuguese textile commissions in Bengal and Gujarat.34 In addition, severe problems in the market arose in the 1630s. A famine devastated large parts of Gujarat for years, and the conquest of the Portuguese settlement in Hugli in Bengal in 1632 interrupted the vital maritime traffic from Bengal to Goa for some time, but it did not halt the province’s textile production for export. Upon the recovery of textile production in Gujarat and the return of the Portuguese to Hugli in Bengal, the Portuguese private merchants were increasingly sidelined by the EEIC and the Dutch VOC, which profited from the private merchants’ knowledge of the local market and closely followed their policies. In 1640 Portuguese independence was forcefully restored under the Bragança dynasty, an event with repercussions around the globe it is reflected in the iconography of a Bengal colcha.35 These were troublesome years for trade, but, despite this, some parties made considerable progress in Asia. This was fostered by the situation in Europe. By the mid-seventeenth century the Thirty Years’ War had confirmed the independence of the Netherlands, in Eng32 33 34 35

Bluth, 1966, p. 267. E.g.: Chaudhuri, 1978. Boyajian, 1993, chapter 10. Santos, 1970, pp. 204–209.

Colchas in the Socioeconomic Networks of the Time

21

land the monarchy was restored in 1660, and Portugal remained independent. As a consequence, demand for luxuries of all kinds increased in northern Europe and was partly satisfied by Asian imports.36 The English agents soon understood that in order to be able to sell Indian textiles they had to appeal to British consumers’ taste, which to some extent was different from that of Iberian consumers. Slowly the company’s involvement in India increased, and its exports triggered great demand from the 1660s onwards for stylistically adapted Indian textiles. In the course of the second half of the seventeenth century the EEIC successfully took the lead in the India-Europe trade and finally shifted its centre of action to Bombay, part of the dowry of their Portuguese-born queen. During this period the floral style became prevalent in the Indian colchas for the European market, somewhat reflecting the increasing influence of the EEIC and showing similarities to contemporary Indian chintz production – another successful Indian export product. Given the augmented market opportunities, the scale of trade increased too. By the end of the seventeenth century, a considerable part of the Indian labour force may have been working for the Dutch and British, according to estimates by Om Prakash.37 The share of textiles exports increased significantly, too. Still, according to Boyajian, it was only in 1700 that the EEIC exported as many textiles from India as the Portuguese had in 1600.38 Starting with Portuguese exports during the sixteenth century, cotton goods of different qualities and values became an important trade item and take a prominent place in the so called consumer revolution that intensified in northern Europe during the eighteenth century.39 What renders the colchas so important in this context is that firstly they survive, unlike the simpler textiles, which were exported in much larger quantities; and secondly, because of their singularity, they are traceable in the documents of the time, thus providing exact information on the complex mechanisms of exchange in which they were involved. Textiles and other artefacts that were brought from Asia to Europe during the early modern period had significant technological and stylistic influence on the development of the decorative arts of early modern Europe.40 Similar to Chinese porcelain, textiles imported to Europe also inspired substitute products, an economically logical process. The imported designs of floral Indian and Chinese colchas influenced the Portuguese embroidery production of the Castelo Branco colchas, which were made from the sixteenth century until today and represent an enduring attempt at import substitution. 41 The production of carpets of Arraiolos, embroidered adaptations of Near and Middle Eastern carpets, 36 37 38 39 40 41

Weatherill, 1996; Berg, 2008, pp. 85–142. Prakash, 1985. Boyajian, 1993, pp. 140 and p. 169. Lemire, 1991; Berg, 2005; Riello, 2009b, pp. 309-346; Riello, 2013, pp. 87–159. On the influence of Asia on Europe: Lach, 1965–1993. See: Vaz Pinto, 1993 and: Meco, 1985. The author found references in eighteenth-century documents to colchas from Caldas.

22

Colchas in the Socioeconomic Networks of the Time

existed in addition to the Castelo Branco colchas.42 Other embroidery productions influenced by Asian embroideries seemed to have existed for some time in Portugal and Spain. Several museums possess colchas whose attribution is still in doubt.43 One example is a group of colchas that have often been attributed to India but are provenly from Iberian manufacture. In a lecture at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in December 2007, Stephen Cohen drew attention to this group of colchas, largely in Portuguese collections, embroidered on linen and thus quite certainly of Iberian manufacture. Importing European linen to India in order to have it embroidered there and transporting it back to Portugal would be an economically pointless endeavour and is extremely improbable. The style of these colchas was certainly influenced by Indian textiles but the final result differs significantly from Indian solutions; they still await further study. Portugal was a small, rural and largely poor country with little surrounding territory and a sparse elite class. These were not the best prerequisites for mass consumerism as it developed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in England. The Iberian substitute products mainly satisfied the local markets, but had no great success as exports. Comparing the floral Gujarati colchas (Cat nos. 35, 38, 39) to specific seventeenth century French textile products, it seems certain that the colchas’ allure went beyond Portuguese frontiers. Some may have served as a source of inspiration for royal French craftsmen or at least used very similar models. This becomes evident when comparing the production of French hangings in petit-point stitch with floral Gujarati colchas and, even more important, the early carpets of the royal French Manufacture royale des meubles de la couronne, des tapis façon de Perse et du Levant (originally two workshops), founded in 1626 by King Louis XIII.44 Yet another group of embroideries influenced by imported Asian textiles were the so called Marseille quilts.45 However, the most successful attempt to substitute Indian textile imports to Europe was the development of a large printed textile production during the eighteenth century.46 Printed and painted chintz textiles from Gujarat as well as the Coromandel Coast played an ever greater part in textile exports than the embroidered colchas. Even though timeintensively produced they required less work than the embroidered textiles and used simpler material. Motifs were similar, vine scrolls with flowers and flowering tree motifs were the most successful of the time. The first Indian textile to bear a Dutch coat of arms is documented in 1614, when the VOC director of the Coromandel Coast sent a set of chintzes 42 Oliveira, 1979. 43 One much discussed textile is in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, it was part of a controversy by J. Irwin and Maria José de Mendonça. Another example is in the Palacio de Ajuda and yet another is in the Espírito Santo collection in Lisbon. 44 Verlet, 1982, pp. 27–40, 173; Bérinstain/Day/Floret, 1997, pp. 229–231. 45 Berenson, 2010, pp. 42–47. 46 Irwin, Oriental Style, 1955; Irwin, 1972; Kane, 1981; Berg, 2008, pp. 85–142; Lemire, 2006, pp. 481– 507; Riello, 2013, pp. 87–159.

Colchas in the Socioeconomic Networks of the Time

23

featuring coats of arms of the Pulicat and the Geldria factory to his superior.47 During the fourth quarter of the seventeenth century chintz was in high demand in the Netherlands for furnishing the more informal rooms. By 1688 one thousand chintz wall coverings had been ordered from Surat. From the eighteenth century on, printed textiles become increasingly important for clothing, but by then they were largely produced in Europe, copying Indian designs.48 By producing textiles similar to Asian textiles in Britain costly imports were avoided and the home economy boosted. This development helped to pave the way for the Industrial Revolution.49

47 Hartkamp-Jonxis, 1994, p. 48; Irwin, Textile Trade, 1956. 48 Hartkamp-Jonxis, 1994, p. 20, 56; Hartkamp-Jonxis, (ed.), 1987. 49 Berg, 2008, pp. 85–142; Riello, 2013.

Consumers and Taste

Indian textiles were first traded in the Portuguese Indian colonies, as some surviving documents attest. Portuguese living in India soon began to use Indian textiles for decorative purposes in their new residences, churches and in their missions. Owing to the lack of space on board the ships arriving from Europe, the officials, soldiers, missionaries and merchants arrived with very little furniture. As the need for Portuguese presence in India grew, magnificent churches and palaces were built there, and works of art and furniture commissioned to decorate them. Textiles were especially popular because they were very decorative. They could be easily folded and transported and were extremely versatile in their function. Every new viceroy had to furnish his residence, which he found empty on arrival in Goa. The palace of the viceroy in Goa was the administrative heart of the Estado. The reception hall was sumptuously decorated with textiles and portraits of the viceroys.50 Indian textiles were certain to have been used in this context. For instance, the eighteenth viceroy of the Estado da Índia, D. Francisco da Gama, Conde de Vidigueira, (1565 – 1632, viceroy from 1597–1600) possessed colchas. He was imprisoned in the Colégio dos Reis Magos and subsequently excommunicated and interrogated. An inventory of his belongings was made in which there are twenty seven colchas that were probably used for different purposes in the vice-regal palace. Among the items listed were: fl. 18v: “... A satin colcha embroidered with silk and lined with blue taffeta ... A white satin

colcha embroidered in white and lined with golden taffeta ... four very delicate white colchas ...with silk fringes ...“ fl. 73v.: “... a carpet from Agra ... and a white colcha … and two

pieces [of cloth] from Balagate and a combing cape from Bengal ...” fl. 74r.: “... two colchas with hunting scenes...”fl. 118r. “... ten colchas with fringes embroidered with silk ... ten colchas ... two carpets of gold and silver that Manoel de Pavia sent from Cambay ...“ 51

The inventory of the Viceroy D. Martim Afonso de Castro, who died in Malacca in 1607, included but two embroidered white colchas.52 Other high officials of the Goan administration also sumptuously decorated their houses. The 1570 inventory of Simão de Melo, who had been captain of Malacca from 1545, included at least six Indian colchas valued between 50 Dias, 2004, pp. 131–171. 51 Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, Reservados, Código 1986. 52 Arquivo Municipal de Cascais, Arquivo dos Marqueses de Cascais, Caixa 2, Doc. 5, fol. 5r. Quoted from Pinto, 2008, p. 248.

Consumers and Taste

25

eight hundred and eight thousand reis.53 Another inventory from 1576 of a pilot of the carreira da Índia, Manuel de Gaia, listed two Indian colchas, one of which was from Chaul. They were valued at three thousand and six thousand reis.54 In the prison papers of 1610/11 of Garcia Mello, the vedor de fazenda of the viceroy of India, there was: “an old colcha with hunting scenes from Bengal, two large new goderins from Cambay, another old huntingcolcha from Bengal.”55 This high ranking administrator and other officials presumably commissioned or bought the colchas directly in one of Goa’s market streets that stocked up when ships from Bengal, China or Gujarat arrived, as did other Portuguese living in Goa or the Provincia do Norte around Bassein; one such was a woman, Ana Carneira. She died in Goa, the inventory of her possessions was compiled there on December 2, 1602 and listed one Bengal colcha.56 The Portuguese profited from the importance of Indian textiles in intra-Asian trade, where they could be exchanged for other goods, and soon exported them to Lisbon as well. Markets have to be prepared for new goods. Portugal had lived through an Islamic past and in its situation just north of Morocco, goods from the Islamic World had long been common there, whereas they were still much rarer in northern Europe. This may be one reason why it was not too difficult to prepare the Portuguese market for novel Indian forms. As will be shown, the fascination and openness for novel and rare objects is well documented in the highest courtly circles. Fashion and taste developed in urban centres with eminent commercial exchanges – like sixteenth century Lisbon. It was desire and not necessity that drove the consumers to buy exotic goods. These were status symbols. Most of the novel and rare products from the East, such as the colchas, were objects that could be integrated easily into the pre-existing consumer frameworks, at the same time they were something new and special. They were used for decorative purposes and complemented or substituted traditional pieces of furniture.57 For instance: beds were covered with quilts and walls with hangings before the arrival of the Indian colchas. Susana Pedroso has shown that around the middle of the sixteenth century Lisbon had 127 makers of colchas – colchoeiros, eight embroidery workshops mainly for the production of liturgical vestments, ten workshops to make bed canopies and four who made textiles in gold and silver.58 The fashionable large embroidered Indian colchas transferred novel designs and technical features, and the fact that 53 Instituto do Arquivo Nacional /Torre do Tombo (hereafter IAN/TT), Feitos Findos, Inventários PostMortem, letra S mç 21 doc. 16, fls. 156, 191. The author thanks Pedro Pinto for sharing this document. 54 Arquivo da Casa dee Louriçal, Doc. sem cota. The author thanks Tiago Henriques, the current owner and Pedro Pinto for sharing the document. 55 Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (hereafter AHU), India, Caixa 1–323, doc. 101, 1610/11. 56 IAN/TT, Institutos Religiosos da India, Caixa 19 no. 977. I thank Pedro Pinto for sharing this document. 57 Lemire, 2006, pp. 481–507. 58 Pedroso, 2003, pp. 70, 71.

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Consumers and Taste

they came from the Portuguese overseas colonies endowed them with a special content, often reflected in the iconography. By owning an Indian colcha people virtually owned a piece of the faraway colonies the Portuguese elites were so curious about and proud of. The varied demands from different European regions influenced the Indian textile designs. At least until the first half of the seventeenth century, narratives were favoured in Portugal, where most colchas survive, whereas floral patterns – also extant before – became more popular in the latter part of the century, especially in northern Europe, culminating in the craze for chintz cottons.59 This is important for dating the colchas and is also an interesting parallel to the development of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Safavid carpets that were exported to Portugal in considerable quantities and feature an increasingly floral content.60 The consumer society in northern Europe differed from the Iberian Peninsula in various respects. The population in England and the Netherlands was larger and wealthier and had more resources, especially during the second half of the seventeenth century. They were largely reformed in religion and probably did not emphasize religious imagery to the same extent as Catholic Iberians. They thus preferred floral motifs to dense and complex narratives of the later Bengal colchas celebrating the Portuguese expansion in its iconographic programme. This is confirmed by the colchas surviving in the museums of northern Europe and by the documents of the time. In her extensive research on Indian chintz textiles Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis has so far found no more than one embroidered colcha in an inventory from 1632 of the stadholder’s quarters in The Hague and the nearby house of Nooreinde; it was probably from Bengal although described as Persian: “A large white Persian bed cover embroidered with raw silk of all kinds of animals and foliage.” This shows that at least a few colchas must have found their way to the Netherlands. However, the Rijksmuseum has but one Bengal colcha and, Ms Hartkamp-Jonxis continues, none of these examples is known to have been commissioned by one of the employees of the VOC. Initially focussing their interest on what is today Indonesia, the Dutch and also the English were apparently not convinced of the success of a product as complex as the narrative Bengal colchas. This is also reflected in the documents of the EEIC discussed later in the book. 61

59 Riello, 2013, pp. 87–159. 60 Walker, 1990; Hallett/Pacheco Pereira, 2007. 61 Ms Hartkamp-Jonxis in an email from June 3, 2012. The passage she sent was supposed to be published, but was left out for reasons of space: Campen/Hartkamp-Jonxis, 2011. I thank her for sharing the information.

Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources



Embedding the colchas in their cultural context is helped by documents of the time, especially inventories, accounts, letters or historical works and some examples that survived in old collections.62 The presence of colchas in these documents and early modern collections in Europe, the former Ottoman Empire and Japan provide a terminus ante quem – and in some cases facilitate identification.63 Unfortunately for the textiles’ documentation, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries many large, old Portuguese and other European collections were broken up and sold. All too often their provenance was lost on the way. For most colchas the museum documentation does not go back further than the earlier twentieth century and tells little more than that they were bought at auction x or from trader y, or donated by z. By comparing and contrasting surviving historical accounts, letters and inventories, a picture emerges that places this specific group of textiles within the context of early modern international trade and collecting practices. In tracing the itinerary of the colchas from production to consumption, inventories prove indispensible. Their analysis combined with that of other documents mainly from the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centuries provides vital information on the date, value, use, and provenance, patterns of consumption and history of the objects in question. Several of the sources mentioned as follows have been used by one or more researchers who studied the colchas before. In order to provide a more complete picture they are discussed again. Whereever possible, the author went back to the original text to quote directly from it. Early modern accounts of well informed European travellers, merchants, missionaries and soldiers, the officials of the EEIC and contemporary inventories repeatedly mention that the colchas were made in Bengal and Gujarat and give proof of their provenance, narrowing down their dating. In some coeval documents the colchas were even named after their respective production sites: colcha de Cambaia, colcha de Diu or colcha de Guzarate or Chaul and quilts of Sutgogne or a colcha de Bengala. As the following observations demonstrate, the international sources complement one other with their information. The documents studied were written in various languages: Portuguese, German, English, Dutch, Italian and Spanish. Each language found its own expression for the colchas 62 Many of the documents are well known and were often quoted in the context of colchas, others are cited in this context for the first time, several are unpublished. 63 Many Indian textiles were traded to Brazil during the period in question. However, in this study no colchas from there are included. This part remains subject of a further research project.

28

Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources

and most found more than one, often reflecting their local use. Meanings change with both language and description, but the significance of such differences is often imprecise. Descriptions of individual items within the documents are seldom very detailed, although the designation colcha, coltre, dekhn or quilt is often complemented by information on their provenance, size and quality, with colour and technique also being mentioned on occasion. Subject matter is cited only briefly, with the mention of ‘figures’ or ‘hunting scenes’, but when compared to other objects in the same inventories, the colchas are often described in greater detail, perhaps indicating their particular esteem.

EARLY TRAVEL ACCOUNTS AND HISTORICAL WRITING

Travel accounts and early historiography on the subject of the colchas are especially valuable because the writers quoted below had excellent access to first-hand information on Portuguese India and can be considered quite reliable. Among them are administrators, merchants, travellers, missionaries or men who combined their activities starting out from different regions in Europe. The records verify Bengal and Gujarat as important centres for textile production and trade and highlight the colcha’s social and historical context. Moreover, they show that their form and some of the features such as colour and certain motifs, e.g. hunting scenes, existed prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in Bengal and Gujarat. Travel accounts and historical works tracing the colchas in India are discussed first, since they are among the earliest sources mentioning them and those closest to the context in which the textiles were produced.64 This is followed by the records of the EEIC, which was engaged in textile trade right from the beginning of their activities. After shedding light on the production centres Bengal and Gujarat, the discussion of sources is picked up again, leaving India and following the textiles to their agents of transfer, mostly merchants or Goan officials, and then to the end consumers in Europe. This will involve consulting and evaluating the inventories of some distinguished personalities and families.65 The first to be listed chronologically here is the famous Bolognese merchant, travel adventurer and writer Ludovico Varthema (1470–1517). He reached India via the overland route, travelling with an Iranian trade partner, and reported on the rich Bengali trade with textiles. Around 1506 (still years before the arrival of the first official Portuguese embassy in Bengal) he was in Satgaon, which he reported was one of the best cities he had ever seen; he described the international aspects of the Bengal textile trade, mentioning that in Bengal he had met very rich merchants. According to him, the textiles produced there were 64 Several of these were quoted in the context of colcha production already by other authors and feature here, too, in order to present a picture that is as complete as possible. 65 See also: Karl, 2011, pp. 301–313.

Early Travel Accounts and Historical Writing

29

traded internationally: “fifty ships are laden every year in this place [Satgaon] with cotton and silk stuffs […] These same stuffs go to all Turkey, through Syria, through Persia, through Arabia Felix, through Ethiopia and through all India.“66 Varthema’s book, the Itinerario de Ludovico de Varthema Bolognese was first published in Rome in 1510, it was written to sell well and has to be read with care. The fifty ships he saw were probably not large ocean vessels, but rather small transport ships. Their high number still gives an impression of the large volume of maritime trade. The source illustrates that well organised international textile trade existed in Bengal before the arrival of the Portuguese. Varthema himself later joined the Portuguese and became a factor in Cochin, one of the most important Portuguese factories on the Indian West coast. In 1507 he returned to Portugal where he was received by the king who conferred a knighthood on him. Textiles were used in the context of gift-giving from a very early date.67 The first colchas encountered by Portuguese merchants and mentioned in their sources were local Indian products, in style and subject adapted to their Muslim and Hindu clientele (cat. no. 1, 5). One of these textiles was referred to in Gaspar Correia’s historical work Lendas da India. Correia embarked for Goa in 1512 and wrote his work in the mid-sixteenth century. It was first published in the nineteenth century but counts among the most important works on the history of Portuguese expansion. Correia pointed out that during his second voyage to India, Vasco da Gama visited the King of Melinde on the East African coast where the African king gave him rich presents: “The King of Melinde gave each of them rich fabrics and to the captain [Vasco da Gama] a valuable necklace of jewels for the King of Portugal [...] he gave the captain other rich pieces […] and a chest full of beautiful fabrics for the Queen and a kind of quilt or bed canopy, worked [stitched] in white, the finest embroidery ever seen, which was made in Bengal, a country in which marvellous things are made with needles.”68 Correia came to Goa only in 1512, ten years after the encounter between the Portuguese captain and the African King, but since he was a secretary of D. Afonso de Albuquerque and lived in India for decades one can assume that his source was reliable or at least that he had some knowledge of the Bengal colchas. The paragraph clearly shows the importance of textiles as diplomatic gifts within the Indo-Oceanic court milieu. The fact that colchas circulated as diplomatic gifts before the arrival of the Portuguese illustrates the high estimation afforded to them – probably an important factor drawing Portuguese attention to them. The source also proves that a Bengal colcha production already existed and that these textiles were traded and given as far as Africa prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in Bengal. Correia’s account also illustrates that the monochromatic colouring of the colchas – “worked in white” – was not introduced by the Portuguese but that it was already extant. 66 Varthema, 1928, p. 79. 67 al-Qaddumi, 1996. 68 Correia, 1858–1866, p. 287.

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Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources

Only about a decade after this first documented encounter with an embroidered Bengal colcha, official relations were established between the Estado da Índia and Bengal.69 Duarte Barbosa (in India during the early fifteen hundreds, he died on the Philippines in 1521) worked in the administration of the Estado da Índia and described the fair city of Cambay in Gujarat in his Livro de Duarte Barbosa. “Here they also make beautiful quilts and testers of beds finely worked and painted and quilted articles of dress”,70 thus confirming that the production of colchas already existed in Gujarat as well prior to the arrival of the Portuguese. The earliest surviving Indian textile with a Portuguese provenance is today housed in the Museo del Ejercito in Madrid; it is a sumptuous tent in appliqué technique probably made in Gujarat and showing the coat of arms of Martim Afonso de Sousa, governor of Portuguese India between 1542 and 1545; he had fought in Gujarat already prior to this. The tent was either commissioned by himself or a gift by Sultan Bahadur Shah to persuade the Portuguese to help him against the Mughals. It later came into the possession of the Spanish kings and is known as the tent of Carlos V. The opulent tent would indeed make a suitable gift and illustrates that Indian sovereigns could choose from a large variety of textile objects as potential gifts.71 João de Barros (1496–1570) was one of the first historians of Portuguese India and treasurer of the Casa da Índia in Lisbon. This was a position of great importance since all incoming goods and information from Portuguese Asia had to pass through this customs house. Even though he never travelled to India his position ensured he was very well informed about the historical events and the economic situation in the Estado. Not surprisingly, he recognised the potential of Indian textile trade at a comparatively early stage, and his text demonstrates that colchas were already being exported to Lisbon in the mid-sixteenth century. His work the Décadas da Asia, was printed in 1552 and later. After pointing out the importance of rice cultivation in this fertile region of Bengal, he mentions vegetables and fruits and sugar production and the rich fauna and adds: “there is so much cotton harvested and there are so many artisans who weave the finest textiles that one could dress all of Europe with them; [he goes on to explain the importance of cotton for its use in dress in the entire region and beyond] and in needlework and in different weavings the Bengalis are more advanced than all other people, as one can see from the most richly embroidered colchas, and from other things coming from there.”72 Jan H. van Linschoten, the Dutch trade spy, was the secretary of the Archbishop of Goa from 1581–1587. Thanks to his publication Itinerario, published in Dutch in 1596 and only two years later in English and German, Europeans interested in trade with India learned 69 70 71 72

Campos, 1979. Barbosa, 1918 vol. I, p. 142. García Ramírez, 2007, 11–36. Barros, 1777, pp. 456, 457.

Early Travel Accounts and Historical Writing

31

useful facts about India. He had access to first- hand information and comments on the Bengal textile production and materials used in it: “It is yealowish, and is called the herbe of Bengalen [tussar silk], wherewith they so

cunningly stitch their coverlits and pavilions [for beds] pillowes, carpets, and mantles,

therein to christen children women in childbed use to doe, and make them with flowers

and branches, and personages, that is wonderful to see, and so finely done with cunning workmanshippe, that it cannot be mended throughout Europe [...] They make also faire

coverlits, which they call Godorijns [a simpler and thicker kind of cover], which are very fair and pleasant, stitched with silke and also of cotton of all colours and stitchinges.”73

In his description he mentions the yellow herba silk that was used for the embroidery. Tussar silk was identified with herba silk, hence Linschoten’s description. It was long believed – and will be discussed in detail later in this study – that tussar silk was spun from a herb. He also mentions designs, most importantly figurative designs, that appear in the Bengal colchas and refers to the variety of types of embroidered textiles which illustrates that the production was not limited to colchas alone. The Portuguese also exported embroidered cushion covers, bed pavilions, capes and other items of dress, ecclesiastical vestments, curtains and the like. The Florentine merchant Francesco Carletti provided valuable information some years later around 1606, when he prepared a report of his voyage around the globe for Grand Duke Ferdinando, at whose court he ended his career as the grand duke’s counsellor. He states “from a Gujarati merchant with whom I had corresponded I bought […] for Portugal diverse manufactures […] such as quilts embroidered with curious and very beautiful works, made of stitches so small that one can hardly see them, of the same they also make textiles of silk.”74 It is notable that he bought the merchandise directly from a local trader and not from Portuguese merchants. This shows that it was comparatively easy for an independent Italian merchant to trade and to acquire goods that were not monopoly of the Portuguese crown. The merchant community was very international, and Indian textile trade depended on local intermediaries. Carletti also describes Bengal muslin and upon his return to Florence shows some specimens to the Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany. He never travelled to Bengal but wrote about Bengal colchas, compounding the same widespread misunderstanding of designating the tussar silk as herb (erba). His description is very similar to that of Linschoten: “In addition to that many other manufactures come from this country [Bengal], such as

the most superb covers and canopies […] embroidered on cloth with so much grace and 73 Burnell/Tiele, 1935, vol. I, p. 96. 74 Bluth (ed.), 1966., p. 250.

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Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources

rare beauty with works and animals and other figures and ornaments, made of a certain herb that has the colour of straw, this herb they reduce to the most exquisite fineness

that cannot even be done with silk, it is very strong and more lucent and of much better aspect.”75

The French traveller François Pyrard de Laval was in Bengal in 1607 and wrote about the Bengali people and their embroidery skills, also repeating the herba misinterpretation: “Likewise there is plenty of silk, as well that of the silkworm as of the herb, which is of the brightest yellow colour and brighter than silk itself: of this they make stuffs of divers

colours, and export them to all parts […] The inhabitants, both men and women are wonderously adroit in all manufactures, such as of cotton and silk and in needlework, such as

embroideries, which are worked so skilfully, down to the smallest stitches, that nothing prettier is to be seen anywhere.”76

Pyrard de Laval also visited Gujarat. He writes about the dependence of the Portuguese on the annual cafila, a ship caravan consisting of 300 – 400 smaller boats that took the trade goods safely from Gujarat to Goa, and about the international textile trade.77 In his description of Gujarat he clearly distinguishes the embroidered colchas from painted and printed quilts, the pintadoes. In addition to that, he mentions that the embroidered coverlets – the colchas – were referred to as cloches at that time already: “[the] principal riches [of Gujarat] consist of silk and cotton stuffs, wherewith everyone from the cape of Good Hope to China, man and woman, is clothed from head to foot. These stuffs are worked, and the cotton also made into cloths of the whiteness of snow, and very delicate

and fine, and is also woven of a medium and of a thicker stoutness for divers uses. Others are

bespangled and painted with various figures. The silk work is the same of all these kinds, the articles imported [from Gujarat to Goa] being pillows, counterpanes and coverlets, pinked

with much neatness and cleverly worked: these they call colches. Then there are quilts stuffed with cotton, painted and patternde exceeding prettily. Next, they bring couches and bedsteads that are painted and lacquered with all manner of colour and design.”78

A record also illustrating the continued importance of Asian luxury textiles more generally as royal diplomatic gifts is a list of items compiled in 1626 by the Portuguese that might serve as presents to the “Shah of Persia” – at this time Shah Abbas: among them are ob75 76 77 78

Bluth (ed.), 1966, p. 267. Pyrard de Laval, 1888, p. 328 and 329. Pyrard de Laval, 1888, p. 245. Pyrard de Laval, 1888, p. 247 and 248.

Colchas in the Early Records of the EEIC

33

jects from Venice and London and carpentry tools. Some things could be bought in India, such as: “A velvet ensemble for a bed embroidered in China … and if believed that it is not [adequate] one should send taffeta or satin embroidered with birds and scrolls, Indian dress that the Persians esteem most, sugar from China and Bengal, buffalo horn for chests.”79 This source shows that textiles from all over the Portuguese sphere of influence in Asia were appreciated gifts for the Safavid ruler. By giving the suggested presents to the shah from such different places (it is unknown whether the shah received exactly the items listed but certainly similar ones), the Portuguese envoy laid out before him a generous interpretation of the Portuguese sphere of influence. In 1626, the date of the record, the Portuguese had already lost their port at Hormuz on the entrance of the Persian Gulf; it was thus in their interest to appease the shah with their rich presents in order to continue their trade. The itinerant Portuguese Augustinian friar Sebastian Manrique (travelling through India from 1629 to 1643), who even came to meet the Great Mughal Shah Jahan on one of his extensive trips throughout Asia, described the Bengal colchas in some detail: “Among the more important commodities dealt in by the Portuguese [in Satgaon] are very rich backstitched quilts, bed-hangings, pavilions and other curious articles worked with representations of the chase which are made in these kingdoms.”80 Interestingly, neither of the two famous travellers who visited the region during the second half of the seventeenth century, François Bernier and Nicolau Manucci, mention the Bengal colchas.

COLCHAS IN THE EARLY RECORDS OF THE EEIC

The capture of the Portuguese ship Madre de Deus by English corsairs in 1592 illustrated to the English authorities the wealth of trade between Goa and Lisbon and doubtlessly increased their interest in this matter. The booty included jewels, spices, drugs, quilts, calicos, carpets, colour pigments, ivory, porcelain and the like. Donald Lach relates this event to an Indian bed including an Indian valence and a table that was described in 1599 to decorate Queen Elizabeth’s rooms at Whitehall and might have been among the objects retrieved from the vessel.81 Another English aristocrat had access to goods from India before the creation of the EEIC: the 1601 Inventory of Bess of Hardwick – an avid textile collector – in Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire/England mentions several generally described colchas: “In the wardrop [...] a quilt of yellowe india stuffe imbrodered with birdes and beasts and white silk frenge and tassells, lyned with yellow sarcenet.”82 Given the early date of her inventory it is probable that this colcha arrived with Portuguese ships from India and then 79 80 81 82

AHU, India, Caixa 14, no. 8, January 22nd 1626. Manrique, 1927, p. 34. Lach, vol. II, book I, 1970, p. 34. Hardwick 1601, p. 5; Crill, 2006, pp. 245–262.

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Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources

somehow found its way to England. It is very plausible that the Indian textiles mentioned in her inventory were bought from a merchant with connections to Portugal or Antwerp. The colcha that is today still extant in Hardwick Hall seems to have arrived after the compilation of the inventory.83 The creation of the EEIC took place in 1600. From the beginning of its activities in 1600 the company became interested in the opportunities Indian textile trade could offer. The letters the agents of the company regularly wrote from their outposts in India provide detailed information on their findings. Portuguese dealings were of great interest to the few agents and were duly reported; after all, lessons could be learned from the competitor. The correspondences of the English factors of the EEIC often mention the embroideries of Bengal and Gujarat. The documents relied on in this study stem from the early stage of their presence in India published by William Foster since 1906.84 Very few English agents worked in India during the first half of the seventeenth century, and it was only slowly that they became acquainted to the new circumstances. At this early stage the volume of the company’s textile trade was negligible compared to that of the Portuguese, who were suspicious about the activities of the English newcomers. The letters written by the agents show that the initial phase of their presence was inter alia marked by finding and then slightly adapting textile samples that might make profit back in England – a slow process which was very probably similar to what the Portuguese had experienced some 100 years earlier, but better documented. In 1619 the factor in Surat on the Gujarati coast wrote to Agra, the capital of the Mughal Empire, first giving directions on painted textiles and then commenting on Bengal colchas (lawne quilts): “Directions of quilts required: Some, all of one kinde of chinte, the lyninge and upper parte

of one and the same […] such as eather side may be used; and some to have borders only of different cullers […] to hange by the bed side on all sides alike, and the inner parte of the

quilte allso to bee both sides alike. This last is most used in India and wee thinke will be most pleasinge in England. They must be a little thicker and stronger sticht then ordinary,

for there better lastinge. Lawne quilts wee do [not?] conceave soe fitt for England as if they were of […] [different] cloth, which will be much more lastinge, stichte with birdes,

beastes or worke very thicke, such as used by the Mores instead of carpitts. Of this sorte there comes, it seemes from Bengala.”85

83 Crill, 2004, pp. 87– 91. 84 Foster (ed.), 1906–1927. 85 Foster (ed.), 1906–1927, vol. I, p. 84; Letter from: March 16, 1619.

Colchas in the Early Records of the EEIC

35

As early as 1619, the British agents searched for bed curtains and other specific types, measures and qualities of textiles. From the directions it becomes clear that he was mainly looking for textiles that could be used in interior furnishing, not dress. In addition, it is very telling that the textiles mentioned were acquired in Agra. This proves that colchas coming from Bengal entered the North Indian market and were sold in this important Mughal city perhaps by the Portuguese traders themselves. Furthermore, he states that the local Muslims also bought this kind of Bengal quilts but used them as carpets. Probably they were also used at the Mughal court, where textiles played a vital role in palace decoration. The wife of the Emperor Jahangir, Nur Jahan, had a passion for English embroidery, illustrating the openness of the Mughal court to new artistic trends.86 The Bengal colchas were called lawne quilts in the document. In the Dictionary of Early English it says for the term lawnd: “An old form of lawn, also laund. In both senses, fine linen, and a grassy glade,“87 again illustrating the lasting misunderstanding of the nature of tussar silk. The same company letter from 1619 mentions that “His Lordship has three or four [quilts] which he bought at lasker, stichte with cullered silke, that will [give] good contente in England”88 His lordship can very probably be identified with the official royal envoy to the Mughal court, Sir Thomas Roe, who was the only English on such an official mission in India at that time, and his lordship’s colourful quilts seem to be from Gujarat. It is interesting that he bought them in the lashkar, the great travelling tent city of the Mughal Emperor. The Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his lashkar did indeed spend the summer of 1619 (16 April to 2 September) in the Gujarati capital Ahmedabad, which is not far away from Surat, whence the company letter was sent. In his official biography, the Jahangirnama, there is an account of the emperor’s sojourn there in which Jahangir compares himself with Solomon, a central figure in the programme of some of the colchas, depicted there however without carpet: I entered Ahmedabad on Friday the seventh, corresponding the first of Jumada I [16 April]

at an hour chosen for its auspiciousness. As I was mounting, my son Shajahan brought twenty thousand charans, the equivalent of five thousand rupees, for scattering, and I

tossed them until I entered the palace. […] Were it not for the monsoon, I wouldn’t stay in this abode of tribulation [Ahmedabad] for a single day but would get on my flying carpet

like Solomon [!] and fly away, delivering my men from this pain and tribulation […] On the

eve of Tuesday the nineteenth [August 31] a fair was held in the private palace. Prior to this it was customary for merchants and craftsmen of the city to set up shops upon command

in the courtyard of the palace and bring to display for our view the jewelled implements, all sorts of trinkets, and brocades and textiles they sell in the marketplace... I went through all 86 Schimmel, 2000, p. 182. 87 Shipley, 1957. 88 Foster (ed.), 1906–1927, vol. I, pp. 84.

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Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources

the shops and bought gems, jewelled items, and every sort of thing I liked. I gave Mulla Asiri something from every shop. He got so much stuff he was unable to keep track of it all.89

Jahangir very probably bought from the same Indian merchants in Ahmedabad as the Portuguese and British. At his private bazaar he could also have bought some European art objects he appreciated so much. Even though the factor’s letter was written before the emperor’s arrival in Ahmedabad, the two sources complement each other: the English letter is not specific about when His Lordship bought the textiles, but he might have bought them earlier on a similar occasion. The ambassador very probably had no access to the the emperor’s private bazaar but may have bought his quilts from the merchants who were travelling with or to the lashkar and who provided the travelling court with whatever was needed and participated in the improvised imperial bazaar. Another letter from 1619 of the factors in Surat asked Francis Fettiplace in Agra for a “supply of [...] Bengala quilts”90 The letter being from Agra shows again that the company agents bought the Bengal colchas in the important North Indian market place, since they had no direct access to Bengal or the Portuguese markets in India. In 1619 the Portuguese were still in a strong position in Bengal. Moreover, the English were officially at war with the Portuguese; it was therefore easier for the British agent to buy textiles in Agra than in Goa. In Agra the textiles were not only bought by the English but mainly by merchants from North India, Central Asia, Armenia and the like and exported via the land route. Again in 1619 the factors in Agra listed: “Goods to be provided at Ahmedabad, Cambay, Dholka: chintz for hangings, quilts of cottonee, close [stitcht and] lined with taffetye; ditto slightly stitched; Cambay quilts.”91 The places mentioned were the main centres to provide the EEIC. From Patna, another market place in North India, where goods could be reloaded and sent to Nepal, Robert Hughes, a young factor working for the company and amateur painter (the reason he was once given audience by the Great Mughal Jahangir92) reported in 1620 to the President and Council in Surat, where the company’s main factory was located: “I shall here provide some quilts of Sutgonge [near Hugli in Bengal], wrought with yellowe

silke, at reasonable rates; and have already halfe a score [ten pieces] in possession, and am promised more dalye as they come to town. There are some Portingalls at present in

towne, and more are latlye gon for theire partes in Bengala [...] they usialye bringe vendable here all sortes of spices and silke stufes of Chyna [...] and some jewellers ware,” he concludes that in Patna the Portuguese merchants would meet “like bees”.93 89 90 91 92 93

Thackston (ed.), 1999, pp. 261, 264 and 273. Foster (ed.), 1906–1927, vol. I, p. 102; Letter from: June 6th 1619. Foster(ed.), 1906–1927, p.178. Letter from: December 15th 1619. Stronge, 2004, pp. 129. Foster(ed.), 1906–1927, vol. I, p.195. Letter from: July 12th 1620.

Colchas in the Early Records of the EEIC

37

This letter illustrates that the Portuguese merchants living in Bengal personally sold their diverse goods including colchas on the local North Indian markets. They could reach Panta taking the river route up the Ganges. Of course they did not bring the colchas exclusively for the British; rather they were again destined for the North Indian, Iranian and Central Asian market. It is possible that many of these colchas had different designs from those for the Iberian market. With the colchas the Portuguese also sold porcelain they had imported from China, illustrating their far reaching network. This record also shows that while the official Estado was at war with the British – the Portuguese fortress Hormuz was conquered in 1622 – the private merchants continued trading with them. Still in 1620, the same company agent reported from Patna to the factors in Agra: “He has bought about a dozen quilts of Sutgonge, trimmed them with silk fringe tassels and lined them partly with tafeta and partly with tessur [silk]”,94 proving that the fringes but also the lining was often added later to the colchas and this explains why the type of silk used for the embroidery was often different from the silk used for the fringes in surviving colchas. And again Mr. Hughes explained that he had sent “specimens of Sutgonge quilts bought at reasonable rates that we expect good muzera [joy] for them from the Companye. They are not made here but brought from the bottom of Bengala [...] other sorts of quilts are not here to be gotten of any kinde.”95 Curiously, in Patna one could only find the Bengal colchas but no other quilts – at least at the time the agent was present there. At a meeting in Surat in 1621 a list was set up of “goods to be purchased at the various factories during the coming year.” Among other textiles from Surat and Ahmedabad the agents asked the Arga factor to bring “quilltes of Bengala and Bengala silk”.96 The repetitive mention of Bengal colchas indicates that they were available in considerable quantity in North India and that the company agents were initially quite intrigued by them. The letters of the EEIC are important for our knowledge of Gujarati embroidery production as well. In a letter written to Surat the agents asked for “embroidered capes in Indian fashion” and for “embroidered boxes”.97 In 1619 the factors from Surat wrote to their colleagues in Ahmedabad that “early provision of goods [is] necessary. Supply of quilts, bloodstones and chintz hangings.”98 Since the letter was written from Ahmedabad it shows that the textiles were collected and probably made in the Gujarati capital. Richard Lancaster in Cambay wrote to the President and Council in Surat in 1621: “for quilts I have sett the taylors to worke upon them, lyneing them with red gagiea [cotton or silk cloth for lining] according to those formerly made.”99 This again indicates that the finishing work on the colchas, such as lining, was not usually done by the embroiderers 94 95 96 97 98 99

Foster(ed.), Foster(ed.), Foster(ed.), Foster(ed.), Foster(ed.), Foster(ed.),

1906–1927, p. 198. Letter from: September 3rd 1620. 1906–1927, p. 204. Letter from: November 11th 1620. 1906–1927, p. 234. 1906–1927, vol. I, p. 18. 1906–1927, p. 75. Letter from: February 26th and 28th 1619. 1906–1927, p. 293. Letter from: October 8th 1621.

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Dates, Itineraries, Provenances and Sources

themselves but by contracted tailors and illustrates the division of labour between the individual steps of production. It is notable to read how closely the British agent supervised at least one step of the works. Again writing from the capital Ahmedabad, the factors reported to the President and Council in Surat in 1621 that “the cuttanee quilts [there] are ready”100 thus certifying that at least specific steps in the colcha production were in all certainty carried out in Ahmedabad. Already around 1614 colchas appeared in auctions of the EEIC in London where they reached prices between twenty to forty pounds. In one auction: “was put to sale a faire quilt of white satin imbroydered with sundry colours, for which Mr. Benjamin Henthawe buddinge Pounds 30-10-0 at the going out of the flames was adjudged. […] Next was putt to sale a Carpet or Quilt imbroydered upon callicoe with sundrie silks for which Mr. Greene biddinge Pounds 5–15-0 had the same adjudged” and “a callicoe

hanginge imbroydered was then putt to sale somewhat defective and stained, for which Mr. Alderman Corkaine biddinge Pounds 5-6-8 had the same adjudged.” 101

Despite the initial enthusiasm of the company agents not all Indian colchas met the taste of the British consumers, which in a way surprises, since narrative domestic embroidery featuring mythological motifs similar to those on Bengal colchas was very fashionable in England at the time.102 In the 1620s instructions were sent to India not to supply more of them.103 As early as 1619 the factors from Agra, the North Indian capital, reported to the company: “Embroideries may be sent for presents, but will not sell to profit.”104 This seems to have changed later on. Until the middle of the seventeenth century British agents seem to have bought what was available on the Indian market and only adapted size and added certain embellishments such as fringes to the textiles. Since at least 1643 the London directors provided more exact directions regarding the design of Indian textiles for export to Europe, indicating that the textiles sent before did not meet the taste of the English buyers anymore. Concerning painted textiles, they wrote that they wanted the patterns to be designed on white ground instead of the sad red ground and the flowers and branches should be in the middle of the quilts. From the 1660s sample patterns were sent from England mainly for chintz textiles but they could be used for embroideries as well.105 This change is reflected in the surviving colchas from Gujarat, discussed as follows. While many surviving colchas in Portugal feature colourful backgrounds, mainly in dark blue but also red, the later surviving 100 101 102 103 104 105

Foster(ed.), 1906–1927, p. 301. Letter from: October 12th 1621. India Office Archives, Court Book III, pp. 150, 320, 325, 391, 499, quoted from: Irwin, 1949, p. 53. Morrall/Watt, 2008. Irwin/Schwartz, 1966, p. 19. Foster (ed.), 1906–1927, vol. I, p.164. Letter from: 15th December 1619. Styles, 2011, p. 42.

Colchas in the Early Records of the EEIC

39

export colchas and chintzes more often feature a white background. Further research will bring to light more detailed information on the success of embroidered Indian colchas in England. The EEIC successfully traded in all kinds of Asian textiles and even sent specimen as gifts to King Charles II. In 1698 an English diarist, Celia Fiennes noted that the queen’s chamber of state was ornated with Indian embroideries on white satin.106

106 Watt, 2013, p. 86.

The Production Centres

Before turning to more documents highlighting the European reception of Indian textiles, discussion turns to the historical development of Bengal, Gujarat and the Estado da Índia insofar as it is relevant for the colcha production. India had many textile producing centres; the regions most important for production for the export market were Gujarat, Bengal and the Coromandel Coast. The first two locations are significant for the production of the colchas. This was confirmed by the documents quoted before. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Bengal and Gujarat were among the richest provinces of the Indian Subcontinent. Both regions fulfilled conditions vital for a well working textile production and trade centre: The Hugli region and the Cambay region were integrated in the ancient international trade network by land and sea and had strong local trading communities whose networks reached out as far as the Ottoman Empire. 107 The provinces’ hinterlands were fertile and provided the raw materials which had to be procured by local intermediaries in the countryside, where silk and cotton were grown, spun and occasionally woven. They were collected and transported to the cities and in divided labour dyed, woven and embroidered there by skilled professionals. Subsequently they were sold via the local bazaar structures in Ahmedabad or directly to the Portuguese as perhaps happened in Hugli. Finished colchas were laden on ships in the respective ports. Both regions produced for the vast Asian market during the period in question, the Portuguese and later the other Europeans constituting only a fraction of textile commissions. Trade in Indian silk and cotton were internationalised, but the subcontinent also imported specific material. For instance undyed Chinese silk threads for embroideries were imported from China to Gujarat.108 It is possible that some of the most expensive colchas, for instance those featuring gold and silver threads, were embroidered with Chinese silk, even though Indian silk was the most competitive choice in price for embroideries the market had varied requirements. Each of the two regions, Bengal and Gujarat, belonged to a different political entity, had its own language and script and its particular productions for specific markets (for example textiles specifically patterned for the Spice Islands).109 Bengal and Gujarat had been integrated into the Sultanate of Delhi since the thirteenth century. By the fifteenth century they had both attained independence and developed into strong autonomous principali107 Dale, 1994; Levi, 1999, pp. 483–512. 108 Bluth (ed., transl.), 1966, p. 249. See also: Pacheo Ferreira, 2006–2007, 169–179. 109 Guy, 1998.

Gujarat

41

ties, with a sultan as head of state.110 A luxurious Iranianate court culture had evolved, and many Persian-speaking merchants lived and worked in India and maintained a closely knit network that also included Bengal and Gujarat. They were separated from one another by weeks of travelling either by land or by sea. Through merchants both provinces were commercially linked to each other and to the trading areas in Iran, Central Asia, the South China Sea, the Arabian Sea and beyond. During the first half of the sixteenth century both regions had to face the new power that had risen in the north of the subcontinent since 1526: the Mughals under Babur and Humayun and, after the latter’s defeat, Sher Shah Suri, who also rose to power in the north of India and quickly expanded his influence to east and west. In order to defend themselves both the Sultan of Gujarat and the Sultan of Bengal searched for allies, which they found in the recently arrived Portuguese with their invincible fleets.111 In 1535 the Bengal Sultan allowed the Portuguese to establishs temporary factories in the port towns Satgaon and Chittagong, although his attitude to them was rather ambiguous, since they had often attacked his merchant’s ships and collaborated with pirates from modern day Burma.112 The equally precarious political situation in Gujarat forced the Sultan of Gujarat to make even larger concessions: the Portuguese were not only allowed to install factories but were also given a small strip of coastal territory north of modern day Bombay, where they subsequently fortified the cities of Daman and Bassein in the Provinica do Norte. The latter was the largest territory the Portuguese owned in India. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a sumptuous colonial life developed there, and many consumers of Asian luxury goods resided there.113 Both sultanates, Bengal and the Gujarat, unquestioningly lost their independence during the second half of the sixteenth century and were officially integrated into the Empire of the Great Mughal Akbar.

GUJARAT

Ever since Antiquity, the ports of Gujarat have been known and described as important trading centres.114 Egyptian archaeological finds of Gujarati textiles confirm the longstanding activities in textile production and trade.115 This situation had not changed by the time the Portuguese arrived in India at the very end of the fifteenth century; the province remained the treasure chest of India. Gujarat (conquered by the Mughals in 1572/3) was 110 Raychaudhuri, 1969; Pearson, 1976; Pearson, 1980; Dosabhai, 1986; Mohar Ali, 1985; Eaton, 1993; Sengupta, 2001. 111 See for example: Pearson, 1976; Subrahmanyam, 2005 (both books). 112 Campos, 1979; Rizvi, 1987. 113 See: Leão, 1996. 114 Schoff, 1920. The mummy of the eight year old girl from Roman Antiquity the Museo Archeologico Nazionale/Palazzo Massimo, Rome, for instance wears a necklace with emeralds from Sri Lanka. 115 Barnes, 1997; Patel (ed.), 2004.

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The Production Centres

home to the most important ports of the subcontinent and it was closer to the centre of the Mughal Empire and thus easier to control than Bengal. The political and economic heart of Gujarat was the Cambay region, which contained the main ports and the capital Ahmedabad, the cotton plantations and the main production centres for decorative arts.116 Trade in Gujarat was in the hands of powerful merchant princes, who acted quite independently since the sultans and later the Mughals highly appreciated their money loans and tax payments. The eastern Indian Ocean was the main parade ground of the Portuguese armada in the Asian Seas. It was there that their ships displayed their supreme power along the coast, which generally did not extend far inland. The Portuguese kept their factories after the fall of the sultanate in the local trading and production centres. The imperial decree or farman allowing them to do so was granted by the Mughals but had to be renewed by every new emperor.117 The Portuguese Estado da Índia managed to control a portion of the province’s sea trade to both sides of the Gulf of Cambay from their fortresses on the island of Diu and the city of Daman, also by employing the cartaz system of writs of protection.118 Despite considerable initial violence, the presence of the Portuguese merchants was of mutual profit: via intermediaries they bought and commissioned goods from the production and trade centres of the region and paid for them with precious metals that were scarce in India, thus filling the chests of the local merchants and, through taxes, those of the Mughal Emperors. The local merchant princes left no doubt as to who actually dominated the trade in the important mercantile cities. In 1607 the French merchant, mercenary and travel writer François Pyrard de Laval (1578 – 1621) wrote about relations between the Gujaratis and Portuguese, referring to the unsuccessful Catholic missions and emphasising the locals’ genius in craftsmanship. He characterised the collaboration between locals and Portuguese as a not always unproblematic mutual give and take: “They [the inhabitants of Gujarat] are unwilling indeed to adopt manners and customs [religion] of the Portuguese, yet do they readily learn their manufactures and workmanship, being all very curious and desirous of learning. In fact the Portuguese take and learn more from them than they from the Portuguese.”

The colchas of Gujarat were most probably produced in the Ahmedabad region. In the capital of Gujarat the local sultan and later the Mughals had installed court workshops – karkhanas – to which the colcha production was probably linked. The karkhanas also served as huge and dispersed depots for the court and the army.119 The French traveller 116 117 118 119

See: Pearson, 1976; Rizvi, 1987; Afzal, 2000. See for example: Pearson, 1976. Feldbauer, 2003, p. 130. Verma, 1994.

Gujarat

43

François Bernier described the Ahmedabad karkhanas as the place where craftsmen work: “In one […] hall embroiderers [are] occupied with their work with a master who supervises them.”120 There craftsmen worked mainly for the sultan and later Mughals and their courts but, as Lotika Varadarajan suggested, also for private patrons, if time allowed this.121 The karkhanas in Ahmedabad were just one of many that were entertained by the Mughals.122 By comparing embroideries made for the Portuguese with those destined for the Mughal court, close affinities can be seen not only in their technique and material but also in the floral subject matter, which stresses the colcha-karkhanas connection In addition, there were well-organised urban workshops usually run on family basis on a pre-industrial scale that could provide professionally embroidered textiles. This craft was originally linked to the leatherworkers’ caste, the mochi.123 Embroiderers usually worked in or around urban centres where cotton or silk was available.124 John Irwin pointed out that traditional crafts such as weaving, dyeing and embroidering were transmitted within the family or caste system for generations. Very few specifics are known about the producers of the colchas. The records showed that each step in production was carried out by different professionals; this also counts for Bengal colchas. The prosperity of the specialised local textile industry was closely connected to that of the commissioners, be they the local sultan or the Portuguese merchants. The structure of the workshops in the bazaar was tightly supervised and regulated by local officials. In order to acquire goods, the Portuguese had to make the acquaintance of a complicated net of intermediaries. Only through the local intermediaries – called banians in Portuguese descriptions of Gujarat – were the Portuguese able to get access to trade goods. The in itself heterogeneous group of banians had strong commercial networks reaching into the country. Their dominance of access to the main production centres made their services indispensable to the Portuguese. The banians played a crucial role in searching for export goods for them and were vital for the distribution of goods brought by their ships.125 This complex bazaar network and the Europeans’ dependence on the local structures were described in detail by Georges Roques, a French trader of the French East India Company in Surat from 1676.126 120 121 122 123 124

Quoted from Irwin/Hall, 1973, p. 5. See: Varadarajan, 1999, pp. 341; Varadarajan, 1985, pp. 137; Varadarajan, 1983, 96. Verma, 1994. Edwards, 2011, p. 155. A hypothesis suggested that the female convents in Goa were a place of production for colchas. There was actually just one female convent in Goa, the convent of Santa Monica, to which rich Portuguese widows and aristocratic daughters retired. It never housed more than eighty nuns. The small number of inhabitants and their high social status makes it improbable that they were involved in commercial colcha production. They may have embroidered smaller textiles and vestments for use in the convent but not much more. 125 Nadri, 2007, pp. 235–258 126 Bérinstain (ed.), 1996.

44

BENGAL

The Production Centres

Even though there are several parallels in the history of Bengal and Gujarat, the situation of the Portuguese settlers in both provinces was different. Because of its distance, Bengal was for a long time out of the direct control of Mughal as well as Goan officials. No official Portuguese trade protection system worked there, no armadas took care of pirates and no forts secured the route. Bengal was the ideal hiding place for renegades, deserted soldiers, misfits, some missionaries and those who had to flee the Inquisition, which was installed in Goa in 1560: heretics, among them many New Christians. At the same time it was a place offering great opportunities for private merchants (the lines between the individual groups were not always clearly drawn).127 The constant shifting of the river Ganges, eventually compelled the sultanate and later Mughal capital of Bengal to move from Pandua to Gaur and to Dacca. It is not clear if parts of the court workshops always moved with the court.128 In Bengal certain cities have been well known for specific handicrafts for ages: Dacca was the production centre of the famed fine muslin and Satgaon, as the main port city of the sultanate capital Gaur, was a centre for trade and crafts and known for its embroideries.129 Bengal textiles were widely circulated. As early as 1548 the sundar of Bengal, designated as rei/king in a document, sent valuable Bengal textiles to D. João de Castro, fourth viceroy of the Estado da Índia.130 In 1558 Queen Catarina of Portugal (1507–1578) received Bengal cotton as a gift from an Indian ruler, which again illustrates the high appreciation of Bengal textiles and their importance as diplomatic gifts.131 The documents quoted before showed that embroidery production existed already prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in Bengal, and textiles similar to the colchas were produced for the sultanate court, sold to North India and further afield. From the beginning of their involvement in Bengal trade, the relation of the official Estado to the local sultans was rather complicated and marked by hostile encounters, pirate raids and misunderstandings. The first rather unsuccessful official Portuguese embassies from Goa to the then Sultan of Bengal were sent out in 1518. From then on, the official Estado da Índia sent out one ship per year to the region in order to trade there. The Portuguese were first allowed to open factories in Satgaon and Chittagong. Whereas the Portuguese of Satgaon and then Hugli were seriously involved in sea trade, the Portuguese of Chittagong took another path. Protected by dense forests in its hinterland, it became a hiding place for renegades, who in their successful corsair raids were supported by the Arkanese neigh127 Prakash/Lombard, 1999; Prakash 1985; Subrahmanyam, 1990; Boyajian, 1993, p. 80, mentions New Christians in Bengal. 128 Eaton, 1993; Campos, 1979. 129 Schimmel, 2000, p. 208. 130 Cunha Leão, 1998, p.103. 131 IAN/TT, Lisbon, NA 792, quoted from: Jordan-Gschwend, 2004, p. 39.

Bengal

45

bours from modern-day Burma. Local ships were looted, thousands of local people were abducted and sold into slavery; the terrors of the Portuguese became the subject of popular folk songs.132 During the period in question the line between legal and illegal trade was not clearly drawn. It is very probable that the more peaceful Portuguese settlers of Satgaon in the western part collaborated with the corsairs in the eastern part of Bengal by selling what they had captured.133 The unstable political situation in the region meant that the Portuguese were comparatively free in their activities until the enforcement of Mughal rule towards East India. During the initial phase of their presence, the Portuguese left money behind in the hands of the local intermediary merchants in Satgaon as an advance for the goods to be bought on their behalf. Those goods would be then collected by the Portuguese merchants on their return to Bengal the following year. The Portuguese Augustinian friar Sebastian Manrique (in India from 1629 to 1643) described this and also bamboo store houses made by the Portuguese, in which they kept their merchandise until they departed with the monsoon, only to come back the following year.134 This pattern seems to have changed only with the increasing involvement of the Portuguese casado merchants in the concession voyages, which were sold in auction by the Portuguese officials from around 1570.135 In order to procure goods in the country, the Portuguese again relied heavily on local intermediaries, the so called dadni136 merchants or sogadores of the Portuguese records, and their advance payment system. Sogador derives from the Persian saudāgar which means merchant. By changing two letters, the Portuguese adapted the term into their language. The use of a Persian word for Bengal merchants raises the question whether the Portuguese traded with local Muslim Persian-speaking merchants. Persian was one of the linguae francae in trade matters of the time and widely spoken, it was also the language of the courtly Muslim elite. The Persian term is telling and the strong presence of Muslims in Satgaon is attested by the English traveller Ralph Fitch, who in his account dating from the 1580s called Satgaon a ‘citie of the Moores’, suggesting that Satgoan and later Hugli had a predominantly Muslim population.137 The local merchants of Satgaon profited from the Portuguese imports of luxurious goods from all over Asia and apparently encouraged them to stay. In order to acquire an official permission a delegation of Portuguese residents of Bengal travelled to the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar, where they arrived a year before the famous official mission of Rudolfo Aquaviva (1580) that had departed from Goa. In 1580 the Portuguese received an imperial farman, and since the port of Satgaon was silting up, the village of Hugli, near modern day 132 133 134 135 136 137

Sengupta, 2001. Campos, 1979; Sengupta, 2001. Manrique, 1927, chapter IV on Hugli. Boyajian, 1993, pp. 49. Mukherjee, 2006, introduction and chapter 6. Published in: Foster (ed.), 2007 (reprint of 1921), p. 26.

46

The Production Centres

Calcutta, was upgraded into a port town and developed into a thriving marketplace, consolidating the situation of the Portuguese in Bengal. The Portuguese had not constructed a fort in Hugli but apparently had built compact houses that ensured a certain security; perhaps it was not dissimilar from the later Dutch factory in Hugli, painted by Hendrik van Schuylenburgh in 1665;138 after all, it took the wellequipped Mughal army three months to besiege the city before they took it in 1632, which suggests that there was some sort of fortification. The sole image of the town survives in the imperial manuscript of the Great Mughal Shah Jahan, the Padshahnama, which depicts it with city walls, but it can be assumed that the artist never saw the city himself.139 Co-developing a settlement almost from scratch – the question about the size of the Portuguese contribution remains unclear – it is evident that they were not able to build the port town without the permission of the emperor and the support of the local community. These factors combined probably allowed the Portuguese, never numbering more than a few hundered men, to gain a more direct influence in that specific region than their compatriots in Gujarat. From Hugli the Portuguese were able to participate to a large extant in the sea trade of the province. However, even though Hugli was important to Portuguese intra-Asian trade, in Mughal eyes the Portuguese presence there remained a fringe phenomenon which profited them through tax payments. The influence of the Portuguese living in Hugli extended a little into the hinterland where they had bought land, but they had no strong political clout beyond this. However, by way of scattered presence in larger market places and missions across the region the Portuguese established a useful network within Bengal and beyond, reaching at least as far as Patna, as the aforementioned EEIC records show. Despite their more direct influence, they continued to rely on intermediaries in order to procure and collect local goods. Apart from sea trade, the Portuguese were to a certain extant involved in trade on the overland routes to North India, also proven by the EEIC’s letters, which largely remained in the hands of local and other international traders, for example Armenians. In addition to their involvement in trade, the Portuguese became socially involved in the region by intermarrying with the local population; as several complaints by officials stress, they had no official administration and worse, not enough official Catholic institutions. The well informed Dutch secretary of the Archbishop of Goa, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563–1611), comments on the situation: “The Portingalles deal and traffique thether, and some places are inhabited by them, as

the havens which they call Porto grande [Chittagong] and Porto Pequeno [Satgaon], that

is, the great haven and the little haven, but there they have no Fortes, nor any government, nor policié as in India [they have], but live in a manner like wild men, and untamed horses, 138 Jackson/Jaffer, 2004, p. 137. 139 See: Cleveland Beach/Koch, 1997.

Bengal

for that every man doth there what hee will, and every man is Lord [and maister], neyther

47

estéeme they any thing of justice, whether there be any or none, and in this manner doe

certayne Portingalles dwell among them, some here, some there [scattered abroade], and

are for the most part such as dare not stay in India [the Estado da India] for some wickednesse by them committed: notwithstanding there is great trafficke used in those partes

by divers ships [and merchants], which all the year divers times both to and from all the Orientall parts.”140

Another intimate observer of colonial Portugal already consulted before, Pyrard de Laval, writes about the Portuguese of Chittagong: “A large number of Portuguese dwell in freedom at the ports on this coast of Bengal; they are also very free in their lives, being like exiles. They do only traffic without any fort,

order or Police and live like natives of the country; they durst no return to India [the Es-

tado da Índia] for certain misdeeds they have committed, and they have no clergy among

them.”141

These circumstances yielded mixed relationships and offspring, who turned into ideal mediators between Portuguese merchants and local middlemen and producers. What their role was in the procurement of goods and commissioning of colchas is a subject that can only be studied with difficulty owing to sparse documentation. The Portuguese private traders profited from the huge opportunities of the Bengal market, of which the textiles were a vital part; it was one of the richest markets on the Indian Subcontinent, and the basic conditions were excellent. Satgaon was a well known textile centre, professional embroiderers worked in the region and had developed a well known industry.142 The dissolution of the Sultanate of Bengal court in 1537 sent people with excellent knowledge of the craft into the Satgaon region, where the sultan probably entertained court workshops. These highly skilled craftsmen, about whom we have as yet no specific knowledge, could look after new clients and commissioners whom they also found in the Portuguese. At least initially, the colchas for the Portuguese were either embroidered directly in Satgaon or the surrounding villages. The rather Islamicate style of the early surviving Bengal colchas confirms that there was a close link to the sultanate court and the markets of the Islamic world (cat. no. 1, 5, 6). It was probably only in the 1570s/80s, after the farman had granted some security, that the Portuguese started providing more exact orders and models to the embroiderers. As the ever more complicated iconographic programmes of the Bengal colchas suggest, it is probable that direct Portuguese supervision of 140 Burnell/Tiele, 1935, vol. I, p. 95. 141 Pyrard de Laval, 1888, p. 334. 142 Schimmel, 2000, p. 208.

48

The Production Centres

the production of textiles was more extensive than in Gujarat. By combining the European models brought by the Portuguese with the more traditional Bengalo-Islamic styles the craftsmen developed new solutions that pleased the new consumers. The Bengal cotton production centre of Dacca also played an important role for embroidery production. Dacca was the capital of Bengal during the Mughal period. Elaborately embroidered capes from Bengal (today specimen survive for instance in Schloss Ambras, the Museu Nacional do Traje and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga) have a very finely woven cotton foundation that was probably made in Dacca. Their embroideries show the same motifs, colour and technique as the colchas made in the Hugli/Satgaon region, and their cut was based on European models. Filippo Sassetti wrote of one such cape probably from Bengal that he saw in Lisbon: “I saw in the house of a pilot of India [piloto d’India] a cape to put around the neck of a woman, of white fabric [tela] embroidered with yellow silk, where you think that there are a hundred million stitches; a very novel thing to see, and for which he asked up to fourty ducats.”143 This remark shows that some of the most fashionable persons of Lisbon at least occasionally dressed in clothes made in India after European cuts, such as these capes. A few years later the same Sassetti sent a Bengal cape together with two capes from China, colchas and other things to his sovereign Francesco de’ Medici: “A cape [mantellina] from Bengal embroidered with hunting scenes [de montaria] […and] pearls and some rubies (this embroidery is not finished but some embroiderer can finish it in little time).”144 This is the only source indicating that Bengal embroideries were occasionally endowed with small precious stones (probably from Burma) and pearls, significantly enhancing their value.145 No textile of this kind has been found so far. Like some colchas, the cape was not finished when it came into Sassettis possession, perhaps in order to adapt its length to the future owner’s size. The Portuguese in Bengal acted largely in a political vacuum before the Mughal expansion was consolidated. Only under Akbar’s son Jahangir was Bengal pacified and it was Jahangir’s son Shah Jahan who finally settled the affairs in Bengal and created stable conditions for Mughal power. In the process of expansion and consolidation of his empire his army besieged and conquered Hugli, the rich trading city, in 1632. Four hundred Portuguese were captured and taken to the Mughal court where they had the choice between conversion to Islam or imprisonment. By capturing Hugli, the emperor gained direct access to rich tax revenues from import and export trade. Very soon after the conquest the Portuguese were given a new concession allowing them to return to Hugli, but their forces were much reduced and their activities more closely supervised by Mughal officials. The increasing presence of Dutch and English companies, who were also granted to open factories in Bengal, further diminished their influence. Played out by the Mughals, the Portuguese of 143 Bramanti, 1970, p. 219, letter to Baccio Valori from Lisbon, Oct. 10, 1578. 144 Bramanti, 1970, p. 396, Letter to Francesci de‘ Medici from Cochin, January 22, 1584. 145 Another cape probably from Bengal was embroidered on velvet see: Yoshida, 2009–10, pp. 1–16.

Bengal

49

Hugli lost economic ground and had to share their gains with the new arrivals. The British and Dutch trading companies took advantage of the path the Portuguese had prepared, the latter were subsequently sidelined.146 These events surely had an effect on colcha production, which was probably interrupted for some time. However, as documents and surviving colchas confirm, it was taken up upon the return of the Portuguese soon after 1632 and probably continued during the rest of the century. Another blow to the influence of the Portuguese in Bengal came with the war of succession among Shah Jahan’s sons that broke out during his illness. The Portuguese sided with Shah Shuja, then governor of Bengal, who was defeated in 1660 and fled to modernday Burma. This left them without a protector and weakened them further – according to Alexander Hamilton “they betook themselves to Piracy among the Islands.”147 Whatever their influence afterwards, Hugli did not need the Portuguese in order to flourish, the same Hamilton wrote that approximately around 1700 the town “ drives a great trade, because all foreign Goods are brought thither for Import, and all Goods of the Product of Bengal are brought hither for Exportation and the Mogul’s […] customhouse is at this Place.”

146 Flores, 2002, pp. 331–347; Prakash, 1985. 147 Hamilton, 1744, vol. II, p. 3. First published in 1727.

Colchas between India and Europe

MERCHANTS AS AGENTS OF EXCHANGE: FILIPPO SASSETTI AND THE MEDICI Merchants were vital actors in the process of mediating forms, information and goods to and from India. This becomes especially clear in a well documented case of the Florentine merchant and pepper contractor Filippo Sassetti, who lived in Cochin and Goa from 1583 to 1586.148 It illustrates how colchas are traceable to the intersection between merchant networks and networks of princely collecting. Sassetti showed a profound interest in Indian culture, botany and trade goods from all over South and South East Asia and described them in many of his surviving letters to his Tuscan correspondents. Colchas were among the goods he sent back and wrote about to the Medici brothers Grand Duke Francesco and Cardinal Ferdinando. In his letters Sassetti described exactly where they came from, for he purchased them directly from ships coming from these regions. In 1585 Sassetti wrote a letter to Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici including a list of goods that he managed to find after a laborious search. In addition to the letter, a complementing bill commenting on the objects in a very detailed manner has survived. Unlike the letter, the bill is undated but in some instances it is more detailed in describing the objects. The bill contains two colchas (coltre) from Bengal, embroidered with figures. He claims they are the most beautiful pieces that ever came from that region. 149 Not only Sassetti’s letters written to the Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici and Grand Duke Francesco survive, but also the colchas and other objects can be traced in the inventories of the Medici.150 In addition to that list and the letter, the 1587 inventory of Grand Duke Ferdinando I (after his brother’s death ) mentions four Indian colchas.151 The 1587 inventory of the Casino di San Marco, where his brother Grand Duke Francesco had installed different workshops, also lists six explicitly Indian embroidered coverlets, one of them “embroidered with chain stitch in yellow silk”, which is very probably from Bengal. The considerable quantity of colchas suggests that not only Sassetti provided the Medici brothers with exotic textiles but that they had other sources as well.152 148 Karl, 2008, pp. 23–42. 149 Archivio di Stato di Firenze (hereafter ASF), Mediceo del Principato 5113, fls. 354 and 651; in: Bramanti, 1970, pp. 441–444. The separate bill is not published in the book. 150 More detailed on this specific exchange: Karl, 2008, pp. 23–42. 151 ASF, Guardaroba Medicea, 132, folio 285. 152 ASF, Guardaroba Medicea, 136, p. 142.

Merchants as Agents of Exchange: Filippo Sassetti and the Medici

51

Some of the Indian textiles listed in the Casino inventory may have arrived from Spain: while still heir apparent, Francesco travelled to the Habsburg court in Madrid where he could have bought some colchas himself, or received them as gifts. A document tells us that in 1583, when Archduke Albrecht ”left [from Madrid], he presented Khevenhüller [the imperial ambassador in Spain] with two richly decorated [embroidered] Indian bed ensembles; he in turn sent them to the Grand Duke [Francesco] in the name of His Highness.”153 The Grand Duke Francesco de’ Medici was married to a Habsburg princess and as such was part of the Habsburg family gift-giving network. None of the Indian textiles survives in Florence but Sassetti`s letters and the Medici inventories allow us to follow their itineraries and to speculate on their reception in midsixteenth century Florence. Grand Duke Francesco integrated the colchas and other items into the Galleria of the Casino di San Marco, where court workshops and store rooms were located. There the exotic textiles may have served to inspire the craftsmen working for the Grand Ducal court. It is telling that no colchas are mentioned in the earlier surviving Medici inventories of Cosimo I, they only appear in the later inventories of his sons Francesco and Ferdinando in the fifteen-eighties, suggesting that they were not available in Florence much earlier. An eager and well connected collector such as Cosimo I would surely have bought colchas had they been available. Unlike some of the inventories of his predecessors describing the contents of every room in the palace, Ferdinando’s 1587 inventory is ordered by type of object, as for example: table cloths or stone items. This way of compiling the inventories of the possessions enables us to find specific items more easily within the written inventory but does not inform of where and how the items were stored or displayed. Francesco’s 1587 inventory of the Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti is organized room by room, which helps the reader to understand how exotic items were used and displayed.154 Interestingly, exotic textiles do not seem to have been used for furnishing; apart from carpets, no exotic textile (be it turchesco or indiano) was mentioned as decoration for a bed or for a window. The rooms of the grand duke and his family were all decorated in a very traditional manner with mainly local furniture. Rather, and this seems very important in the Florentine context and is also true of Schloss Ambras inhabited by the Habsburgs,155 the exotic items such as colchas were not for everyday use but stored in cupboards and either used only for special occasions or considered entirely as collectible items that were occasionally shown. This is all the more remarkable because Portuguese inventories tell us that the exotic textiles and especially the colchas were actually used in the furnishing of houses. In the Medici and Habsburg context they were considered rather as collectible rarities or models for artists. 153 Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, Ms. 2751, fol.434, Khevenhüller. 1583; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/ Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 57. 154 ASF, Guardaroba Medicea, 126. 155 Ambras 1596 inventory in: Boeheim, 1888.

52

Colchas between India and Europe

There are exceptions, however; one of the earliest documented orientalising living rooms in Rome to be installed and supposedly used by the Medici was in the Roman Villa of the Cardinal Ferdinando and included a Chinese embroidered textile laid over the bed. The 1596–1601 inventory of the Villa Medici in Rome where Ferdinando had lived during his time as a cardinal describes this room, which was probably arranged in the 1580s before he became grand duke.156 The Sassetti case is also revealing when it comes to special commissions, albeit from China. A few Indian and Chinese textiles featuring coats of arms of European families or very specific iconographies seem to have been special commissions. At one instance he wrote that he was waiting for an embroidered bed canopy with the Medici coat of arms that he had ordered from China to be sent to the grand duke.157 The merchants sailing to China either tried to find a type of textile similar to the one the commissioner in Goa ordered and simply had the coat of arms added, or they had the entire textile made by local craftsmen in southern China. As Sassetti’s correspondence shows it took at least one year until the textile ordered from China arrived in India. This shows that in all, a European commissioner ordering from Lisbon or Italy would have to wait at least four years for his textile. Sassetti’s commission including the coat of arms actually never arrived, but he found a good substitute (however without a coat of arms). From Cochin he sent the textiles in question together with other goods for the Medici brothers to an agent in Lisbon who sent them to Florence where the inventories attest their former presence.158 One more embroidered textile ensemble was ordered for the Medici directly in China. Being in Macao and then Goa some ten years after Sassetti had died, the aforementioned Florentine merchant Francesco Carletti had a bed ensemble with a Medici coat of arms embroidered as a gift for the grand dukes. It was lost on his way back to Europe when Carletti’s ship was taken by the Dutch. The bed ensemble was later gifted to the Medici queen of France, Maria, by the Dutch who were unwilling to compensate Carletti.159 As many colchas including coats of arms prove, such exact commissions did also exist for Indian colchas. Another exchange of goods from India involving ten colchas is documented from the mid-seventeenth century in the form of ten letters written from Goa between 1649 and 1656 by Jorge da Amaral de Vasconcelos to his family.160 The fidalgo was a practitioner of law who made his career in the service of Portuguese overseas administration. In Goa he became ouvidor-geral do crime, a powerful but delicate position in Goan jurisdiction.161 His letters provide valuable details on his travels, his work, the political situation in Goa, the dealings of his family and his trade activities, which were an important part of his income. 156 157 158 159 160 161

ASF, Misc. Medicea 363, ins. 2, fl. 122v., quoted from: Barocchi/Gaeta Bertelà, 2002, p. 494. Dei (ed.), 1995, letter from Cochin, 11 Feb. 1585, p. 111. Karl, 2008, pp. 23–42. Bluth (ed.), 1966, p. 187. Published by Barros, 2001. Barros, 2001, pp. 14–37.

Merchants as Agents of Exchange: Filippo Sassetti and the Medici

53

He sent back manifold gifts and merchandise to Lisbon and his family, part of which was ordered by them but also by other persons. Among these goods were bezoar stones, pieces of jewellery, pieces of furniture, carpets and colchas.162 Transport sufferd from the same ills (delays and shipwrecks) as seventy years before when Sassetti sent his goods to Florence. In a letter to his brother-in-law of December 22, 1651 Amaral de Vasconcelos wrote that he was waiting for the ships (cafila) from the north in order to send his nephews woollen textiles from Persia for their dress.163 In the same letter he also proposed to send him drugs, contadores (large portable writing desks with drawers) or colchas for the money he owed him.164 A passage from a letter to his brother also from December 22, 1651 is revealing in that he described the political situation and its effects on trade: given the internal political troubles in China (he refers to the turbulent period of transition of dynasties from Ming to Qing that destabilised China from 1644), Chinese silk had become as rare and expensive in Goa as it was in Lisbon. Likewise the loss of Hormuz 1622 and Muscat in 1650, which had served as entrepots for trade with Safavid Iran, led to a shortage and rising prices in carpets from that region. With the same letter he sent a non-specified colcha for his niece. 165 In a letter from January 29, 1653 he returned to the problematic of the lack of carpets (calling them alcatifa de estrado, indicating their future use): because of the high price of Iranian carpets imported to Goa he decided to commission them directly from muslim traders (mouros) in Sindh who received them from Iran. He also ordered the contadores for his brother directly from the Portuguese factor in Bassein. In addition, he was looking for a bed from China and had wanted to order ecclesiastic vestments from there for a church. In the same letter Jorge de Amaral e Vasconcelos wrote about three more normal colchas that he sent to his family with a sailor; he sent more later.166 This case illustrates very well how easily a well-to-do Goan official could order goods from all over Asia for his own trade interests or his family’s use. This is relevant also in the context of colchas, which are mentioned in the context of this exchange and which could be ordered in this manner as well. In another instance, a letter from February 1655 to his brother, he wrote about his grief on hearing about the death of an acquaintance who had ordered a colcha from him,167 illustrating that Portuguese residents in Goa could, if they wanted to, provide not only their family but a wide range of people with colchas. Likewise it shows that for a person living in Portugal procuring colchas from the market in Lisbon was just one possibility, the other, probably cheaper, was to order them via an acquaintance in Goa directly. By 1656 Jorge Amaral de Vasconcelos was preparing to leave Goa and attempted to receive permission to do so. He also started sending back his own possessions, in addition to 162 163 164 165 166 167

See for example: Barros, 2001, pp. 62, 64, 65. Barros, 2001, p. 64. Barros, 2001, p. 65. Barros, 2001, p. 71, 73, 84, 85. Barros, 2001, p. 80. Barros, 2001, p. 92.

54

Colchas between India and Europe

the goods for his family and acquaintances.168 Among other things he organised shipment for two colchas from Bengal, two from Diu and a bed, the latter was for himself. In addition he sent two white colchas, one of them from Sindh and a bed for another person, and finally another colcha for his aunt and a golden coffin, and yet another bed ensemble of silk, both again for himself.169 A trip to the north however proved fatal, he died probably from poison in 1656. Apart from the ease of doing business and its complications, this case shows that colchas from Bengal were still produced in India and in demand in Portugal around the middle of the seventeenth century. The following documents illustrate the the sea passage was dangerous. As early as November 1559 the Portuguese ship (nau) Graça was lost on its way back to Lisbon. Her passengers and some of the cargo were retrieved and stored on another ship that accompanied her. The commander of the Graça, João Rodrigues Salema de Carvalho, compiled a list of the trade goods he himself transported back, many items were destined to be sold in Lisbon, as this was an important part of his income. The list was annotated after the loss of a part of it on the ship. It points out which items were lost and which could be salvaged. His slaves were saved but a chest including among other textiles and objects “two small white colchas from Bengal, […] two colchas of ‘grass’ (d’ervas) [probably referring to tussar silk] for a coffin […] two colchas of silk” was lost. So were three embroidered cushions, probably of tussar silk (d’ervas).170 The document provides a relatively detailed account of textiles including the colchas, stating their material, colour and, at least once their provenance. In addition the commander lists embroidered cushions that could be used alongside colchas in interior decoration. It is also notable that he provides colchas explicitly for coffins. The rate of people dying on their voyage to Goa or in India was high. Coffins were probably among the first pieces of furniture ordered in India by the Portuguese. Soon they were also exported and many were richly decorated, like the one sent back by Amaral de Vasconcelos discussed before.171 A special inventory illustrating the cargo of a ship on the carreira de India survives in the Arquivio Histórico Ultramarino in Lisbon. In 1615 the Portuguese ship Nossa Senhora da Luz shipwrecked on a beach on the Azores on her way back from India. She was loaded with large quantities of valuable merchandise, which were partly recovered from the beach, collected and sent to Lisbon. An inventory was compiled of all stranded goods which gives valuable insight into what kinds of goods were imported to Portugal from India. Among the items collected were large quantities of textiles, at least one hundred colchas, many diamonds, several ivory objects, porcelain, carpets and the like. 172 The descrip168 169 170 171 172

Letter, from February 9, 1656: Barros, 2001, p.104. Barros, 2001, p. 111. IAN/TT, Cartório Jesuítico, Maço 80, Doc. 42, fol. 1r. Quoted from Pinto, 2008, p. 238. See for instance: Barros, 2001, p. 111. AHU, Açores, Caixa 1, Doc. No. 14.

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tions of colchas are not very elaborate and mostly indicate no more than their colour or main motifs such as hunting scenes. They were not all Indian, a few arrived from China, but these were designated as such. Probably, they were all transported in boxes of different sizes in order to keep them together and protect them from humidity. This source provides a glimpse of how many colchas could reach Lisbon per year: presuming all ships from India arrived in Lisbon – usually about three ships per year (and given that all of them had a similar quantity of colchas on board) – two to four hundred colchas could be brought to the Lisbon market per year, quite a considerable number. This great number of imported colchas and other textiles produced in India explicitely for export is confirmed in the book Livro das grandezas de Lisboa by Nicolao de Oliveyra from 1620. His description of the city is very enthusiastic but quite exact when it comes to numbers (be that of inhabitants, professions, or wages of officials). In chapter four Of the Place of the Kingdom and its Fertility he describes the imports to the port of Lisbon from many places, also from India. Among many other textiles the ships come back with “very fine colchas all embroidered and with hunting scenes, [and] with godorins [padded coverlets] of silk, and there is no ship [nau] from India that does not bring at least four hundred, and many other carpets and very pretty coverlets of silk embroidered with gold.”173 This documents that colchas were highly appreciated merchandise that could be imported from India by the hundreds per year. From this one can deduce that in seventeenth-century Portugal and beyond, several thousands of Indian colchas circulated in the markets. After passing through the customs in the Casa da India in Lisbon’s port area, colchas were available on the market. Most probably they were sold in the shops of the Rua Nova, the artery for trade; known for its splendour since the early sixteenth century, it continued to be one of the most vibrant mercantile streets of Europe.174 From Lisbon colchas could be traded to other Portuguese towns, Spain and by specialised traders to other European market places, especially to Antwerp.

PORTUGUESE INVENTORIES

The Portuguese archives contain valuable records. Many inventories selected as follows list the possessions of merchants and aristocrats linked to Portuguese Asia by economic, family and political interests and illustrate the exquisite taste of the Portuguese upper class of that time. Many sons of aristocratic (especially the second born sons) and merchant families were sent to India to learn and eventually make their fortunes there. Often they stayed for a long time and adopted local fashion and life style. When they returned to Lisbon, their exotic way of living and their fashions influenced Portuguese tastes and living standards. Contemporary descriptions of Lisbon talk about the houses of rich merchants featuring 173 Oliveyra, 1620, p. 13. 174 Lach, vol. II, Book 1 1970, p. 11.

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exotic objects.175 It was not necessary to travel far to receive exotic goods: according to a list of professions included in the book Livro das grandezas de Lisboa, there were seventeen merchants for porcelain and things from India in the city around 1620.176 Possessing luxury objects from the overseas colonies stressed the owner’s social status and his knowledge on Portuguese Asia. Numerous colchas are traceable in contemporary inventories, supporting the findings of the previously quoted documents that they could be exported from India by the hundreds per year. The descriptions in inventories provide valuable information regarding the colcha’s date of production but also about their technique, colour, material, provenance, their reception and use. Starting with the earlier documents mentioning colchas, the study continues by discussing those of Portuguese nobles and some merchants who had more immediate access to goods; it then investigates selected inventories of the Portuguese middle-classes and finally some of the inventories of the family networks of Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. The sources underline that luxury textiles, hence also colchas, counted among valuable diplomatic gifts both given and received during the sixteenth century, not only in Asia but also in Europe and North Africa.177 They illustrate the colcha’s development from exotic souvenir and exclusive trade item to a product for broader consumption especially during the seventeenth century when colchas, probably of simpler manufacture, were also purchased by the Portuguese middle-classes, albeit not in the quantities in which they were consumed by the upper classes. One of the earliest surviving inventories explicitly mentioning Indian colchas dates from January 1550. It is an inventory of D. Francisco de Castelo Branco Valente, master chamberlain, camareiro-mor, a high official of the Portuguese royal household, listing among other colchas a yellow colcha of satin and two white ones of cotton (de pano), one used the other large.178 It is notable that the most expensive colcha listed is an Indian silk colcha, the other Indian colchas are valued at the same price as colchas from Holland. An early context in which not clearly specified Indian textiles were used in palatial furnishing is illustrated as follows: the son of the famous conqueror and second governor of the Estado da India, Afonso de Albuquerque, Brás de Albuquerque (1500–1580) bought the Quinta da Bacalhôa, a formerly royal Renaissance palace near Azeitão in 1528. A pavilion he installed in his garden was called Casa da India because of the Indian hangings – possibly inherited from his father – which decorated the walls.179 Unfortunately it is not known what they looked like. 175 176 177 178

Bastos, 2007, pp. 151–160. Oliveyra, 1620, p. 96, letra M. Karl, 2011, pp. 301–313. Biblioteca Nacinal, Viscondes de Botelho, Documentos Antigos, Caixa 8, N.º 18 D. Francisco de Castelo Branco Valente, camareiro-mor, Jan. 1550 inventário dos bens fols. 63v, 65r. Summarised by Pedro Pinto. The author thanks him for sharing this information. 179 Watson, 1908, pp. 26, 27.

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A silk colcha (tafetá) obtained from Chaul and valued at ten thousand reis was recorded in the mid-sixteenth-century dowry of D. Isabel de Miranda, daughter of Francisco Pereira de Miranda, who was capitain of the fortress of Chaul in the 1550s.180 This colcha probably was an exotic souvenir brought back form India. Another colcha from Chaul, small, old and costing three hundred reais, was listed in the inventory of Francisco Gonçalves, a widowed merchant as early as November 29, 1554, illustrating that from an early date Indian textiles could be purchased by the middle classes if they had the right connections, which as a merchant he probably had. Given that the colcha was designated old, it is probable that it arrived about some ten years prior to its mention in the record. It was still deemed valuable enough to pay the former owner’s debts.181 During the second half of the sixteenth century colchas and other high quality textiles became a prized export item to Portugal and ranked high within the context of gift-giving. In 1558 the Portuguese Queen D. Catarina de Austria, herself an avid collector of exotic goods, received three Bengal colchas from the Casa da India, the custom house.182 As demonstrated by Annemarie Jordan-Gschwend, the queen’s passion for exotic goods was well known and the arrival of especially valuable objects was reported to her. Her collecting policies and tastes influenced the collections of the Habsburg family network through the large number of gifts she made to her relatives.183 The inventory of D. Teodósio, fifth Duke of Bragança (1507(?)–1563), one of the richest aristocrats of Portugal, was compiled between 1564 and 1567. This extraordinary document, covering about 1300 pages provides deep insight into the material culture of Portuguese aristocracy in the mid sixteenth century.184 Among the thousands of objects listed were at least three colchas explicitly described da India, two of them were embroidered in white and three colchas of grass, d’erva, embroidered with white threads, thus probably identifiable with Bengal colchas because of the misunderstanding concerning the nature of tussar silk.185 Another inventory mentioning colchas in the context of high aristocracy is the 1576 testament of D. Duarte 5th Duke of Guimarães, the grandson of King D. Emanuel I, which lists an Indian colcha.186 180 IAN/TT, Casa das Alcáçovas 5. The author thanks Pedro Pinto for sharing this document. 181 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra A, Maço 171, Doc. 3 (2.º Doc.), fól. 3 Lisbon, 29/11/1554. The author thanks Pedro Pinto for sharing this document. 182 IAN/TT, Lisbon, NA 797, 112r –114v; quoted from: Jordan-Gschwend, 2004, p. 39. 183 Jordan, 1994; Jordan 2000, pp. 265–293. 184 The surviving inventory constitutes a copy from 1665 of the inventory from 1564–1567 (Arquivo Histórico da Casa de Bragança BDMII Res Ms 18). It is currently the subject of a large research project coordinated by Jessica Hallett and Nuno Senos (CHAM/Lisbon): De Todas as Partes do Mundo: O Património do 5° Duque de Bragança, D. Teodósio. The inventory is being published: Hallett/ Monge/Senos: http://www.cham.fcsh.unl.pt/teodosio/transcricao_versaofinal.html (accesseed Sept 6, 2014). 185 Hallett/ Monge/Senos, p. 153, entry nos. 3197–3202. 186 Ferrão, vol. 4, 1990, p. 208.

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An inventory of the dowry of D. Beatriz Correia from 1577 lists several Indian colchas. The detailed description of colchas renders this inventory especially valuable: “1 large colcha from India […] worked in chain stitch and it has one quadratic form in the middle which in turn includes one roundel fringed with roundels of yellow threads for 25.000 [reis]” This is quite a good description for a Bengal colcha similar to those of the second phase – as explained later (cat. no. 1, 2). Another colcha from Chaul features five embroidered roundels in red and cost 30.000 reis(?). The most expensive piece is a colcha from Bengal “all over embroidered with yellow threads with many works” for 40.000 reis(?) and another similar Bengal colcha with white threads and yellow fringes for 25.000 reis(?). And finally a fidalgo da casa real (knight of the royal household), Cristóvao Soares whose family had links to India, owned three Indian colchas valued at between eight and ten tounsand reis(?); his inventory was compiled in 1580. By 1580 colchas were apparently appreciated also in Morocco, after the battle of Alcácer Quibir in Morocco (1578) where the Portuguese King D. Sebastião died; officials tried to buy back his corpse. The corpse was actually never found, but among the presented goods with which the Portuguese intended to buy back the body of their king was “a white Indian colcha from Bengal, worked and stitched all over [...] a finely worked colcha from Bengal [...] ornamented with birds and hunting and wood scenes, fringes of silk and white and yellow threads […]” and two other Bengal colchas.187 The comparatively exact description refers to the Bengal colchas discussed in detail later in this book: the same motifs, materials and colour combination characterise the textiles. Additionally it confirms that Indian colchas were deemed valuable enough to serve as high-ranking diplomatic gifts. By the 1580s Bengal colchas with hunting scenes were available not only on the market in Portugal but also beyond, in this case Morocco, in the case discussed above, Italy. The Medici inventories of 1587/88 of the Grand Duke Francesco and his brother also contain Indian colchas;188 one of the colchas listed there may have been a diplomatic gift from the Spanish King.189 Several colchas are listed in the inventories published by Bernardo Ferrão in his Mobiliário português dos primórdios ao maneirismo. The inventories he chose are of Portuguese nobility of the Alentejo and date from between 1601 to 1613.190 They were compiled in quite a narrow time span and all use the entity reis for the evaluation of their possessions, therefore they are a good source for price comparison. They also show that Asian objects were available in the Portuguese countryside. In view of the different prices, the Indian colchas listed there were produced in different qualities and they were often in a used state at the time of being inventoried. The most expensive Indian colchas in these inventories cost about as much as the most expensive listed carpets and much more than other pieces of 187 Quoted from: Ferrão, vol. 4, 1990, pp. 209. 188 ASF, Guardaroba Medicea 136 and Guardaroba Medicea 79, fl. 285. 189 Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, Ms. 2751, fl. 434, Khevenhüller. 1583, quoted from: Jordan-Gschwend/ Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 57. 190 Ferrão, vol. 4, 1990, pp. 213–224.

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furniture from Asia. For example, in the same inventory a tortoiseshell chest from Gujarat was valued at 1600 reis, a large Indian box 4000 reis, a carpet 22,000 reis and an Indian colcha 20,000 reis. Only a golden Chinese escrytorio (writing desk) cost 16,000 reis, which may be due to its material and provenance. Because of the great distance from Goa, Chinese luxury products were imported on a smaller scale and often more expensively than those from India, which were easier to purchase and shorter to transport.191 The chosen inventories illustrate that high quality Indian colchas were among the most expensive art works exported from India. Only very few other pieces of furniture were of equal value. Filippo Sassetti, too, is amazed by the high prices paid for Indian embroideries: “From India come all precious things that we know [he starts his list with spices and precious stones.] […] worked things, like embroidered quilts [coltre imbottite], in which one could spend one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty scudi per piece.”192 Given that he was later provided with 800 scudi by the Medici to buy exotic goods for them in Goa, an Indian colcha would cost more than an eighth of all his purchases. In 1609 a new set of sumptuary laws were issued by King Philip III. As a consequence, in 1610 a Livro dos Registos was drawn up in Porto by the official responsible that listed all luxurious household items and pieces of costume that were concerned by the law as well as their owners.193As laid out by Hugo Miguel Crespo this book provides a rare glimpse into what was considered luxury in the city of Porto around 1610. In addition to textiles of gold, silver and silk, several textiles from India and China feature in the list. Among these were four Indian capes, probably from Bengal and Gujarat, and a few colchas, one of which de montaria, thus probably from Bengal another with colours probably from Gujarat.194 The 1610 testament of Dona Filipa de Sá, Condesa de Linhares also includes several colchas. As that of many Portuguese aristocratic families, her family history is closely linked to the Estado da Índia. Some male family members served as viceroys and thus had direct access to goods in Goa. Among the pieces mentioned in the inventory are eight colchas, two of them are from Bengal and a colcha of yellow satin was apparently made in Diu.195 As in the previous inventory the mention of prices of the listed items reveals how costly and highly valued the colchas were. The prices given in this inventory show that the Bengal colchas were more expensive than those from Gujarat. Again, the most expensive colchas cost about as much as a good carpet, a third of a fine tapestry from Brussels, and almost half as much as the Condesa’s best slave Cristovam and one of her horses. This confirms that the most elaborate of colchas were luxury goods destined for the upper strata of society and which not everybody could afford. 191 192 193 194 195

Ferrão, vol. 4, 1990, from: 1613 Elvas inventory, p. 222. Bramanti, 1970, p. 219, letter to Baccio Valori from Lisbon, Oct. 10, 1578; Karl, 2011, pp. 23–42. Crespo, 2012, pp. 93–148. Crespo, 2012, pp. 124, 134. IAN/TT, Jesuitas, Mç 15, No. 43. I am grateful to Celina Bastos for indicating this document.

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The testament and inventory of 1637 of Dona Helena de Noronha, the wife of Manoel de Vasconselos, both descendants of illustrious aristocratic Portuguese families with links to India, is subdivided into groups of items. Curtains and Indian quilts are found in the section concerning camas (beds). Interestingly, the colchas are listed separately from the bed section, indicating that their use was more varied: “172. Three white colchas from India made in Diu with fringes […] worth eleven thousand reis. 174. A small colcha with hunting scenes worth twenty five thousand reis. 175. Another yellow one from India made of cotton and silk and a [...] field surrounded in green and yellow and red lined with green taffeta colourful fringes worth fifteen thousand reis. 176. Another with yellow and red lined with green taffeta, I say that it is with hunting scenes, small and with knots, old”196 Finally, illustrating the continued appreciation for Indian textiles in Portuguese aristocratic circles, the inventory of Catarina de Bragança, Queen of England made in 1706 lists a vaguely described “ensemble for a bed of Indian textiles”.197 The Portuguese princess married the King of England and as dowry she brought not only Indian textiles but, much more important to the British, a piece of Indian territory where the British expanded modernday Bombay. Portuguese merchants trading with India formed a social group with direct access to goods from there and naturally possessed colchas: Luis Alves So(u)eiro was almost certainly a New Christian; some of his family lived in Amsterdam as Jews. The textiles in his possession indicate New Christian involvement in the Indian textile trade and thus the colcha trade. It also illustrates how family networks functioned as diffusers of exotic goods via Amsterdam to the northern European markets. Luis Soeiro may have been the brother of the Lisbon New Christian merchant João Soeiro, who held the contract for the Guinea trade.198 The 1616 inventory of this merchant with direct links both to India and the Netherlands lists: Fl.5: “a small colcha from India of cotton silk [...] worth a thousand reis” Fl.6: “Two colchas

both white, one of them with fringes of cotton full of knots [macramé?] both worth three

thousand reis” Fl. 6: “a table colcha with hunting scenes from Bengal with yellow fringes [...] worth seven thousand reis” Fl. 11: “a white colcha embroidered in white worth four thousand reis.” 199

Records occasionally mention white colchas. Depending on the diligence of the inventory compiler, these are probably to be identified with the monochrome Bengal colchas (some

196 IAN/TT, Arquivo da Casa de Abrantes, Mç. 163, June 25th 1637. 197 Rau, 1947, p. 63. 198 For this information tha author thanks Peter Mark and José da Silva Horta. Cards for Antonio Soeira Gemeente Archief, Notarial Archives, Amsterdam: NA 629 fol. 13–13v December 8, 1622. 199 IAN/TT, Orfanológico Letra L., Mç 42, Caixa 2520, fls. 5,6,11. I am grateful to Luís Frederico Dias Antunes for indicating this document.

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are designated as Bengal) or with several pieces of the Museu Nacional do Traje that are quilted white colchas. This inventory lists both types and makes a clear differentiation between them. Interestingly the white quilted ones cost only half the price of the elaborately embroidered Bengal pieces. Another merchant inventory form the beginning of the eighteenth century proves that colchas were still traded in Lisbon around that time – not all entries indicate a provenance. As late as 1706, the wife of the merchant Domingos Maciel, Maria da Cruz, possessed:200 fl. 18v.: “a white colcha embroidered in white lined with taffeta [...] with white fringes worth twenty thousand reis” fl. 18v. “two table [?] colchas with hunting scenes [...] lined

with taffeta with fringes and tassels of the same colour worth seventy thousand reis” fl. 19r. “a colcha from Diu embroidered in diverse colours with fringes and tassels lined with red taffeta worth twenty five thousand reis [...] a white colcha for the floor embroidered in

diverse colours lined with red taffeta with fringes and tassels worth twenty thousand reis”

fl. 19v. “three small colchas for the floor lined with taffeta with fringes and tassels worth twenty four thousand reis [...] a large floor colcha lined with red taffeta with fringes worth

eight thousand reis [...] an embroidered colcha from Diu [...] lined with taffeta with fringes worth fifteen thousand reis.”

A series of about thirty judicial files, feitos findos, from Lisbon including inventories shed light on the demand for colchas among the Portuguese middle classes, here in a very generous interpretation, especially during the seventeenth century. Parts of these unpublished summarised inventories include colchas and were made available to the author by Pedro Pinto.201 The documents are relatively evenly spread over the late sixteenth and the entire seventeenth century; many name not only the name of the possessor of the items but also a profession, thus providing a hint on the person’s social status, or that of her husband, when the documents concerned women. Among the professions mentioned in the context of the inventories including Indian colchas were three physicians,202 a saddle maker,203 200 IAN/TT, Letra D., Mç. 40 Caixa 871, July 18th 1706. I am grateful to Luís Frederico Dias Antunes for indicating this document. 201 The author thanks Pedro Pinto for sharing his information. The summarised records from his finds are listed in the following sixteen footnotes. 202 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B Maço 36 doc. 13, fl. 4. The inventory of Branca Rodrigues c.c. licenciado Cosme Damião from 8.3.1596 mentions one Bengal colcha for 8000 reis. The second inventory is from: IAN/TT, Tribunal do Santo Ofício, Inquisição de Lisboa, proc. 1512, fl. 68. The inventory of Miguel da Cunha from 7.2.1667 mentions an Indian colcha for 10.000 reis. The owner of the inventory was a new Christian accused of Judaism. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra V, Maço 29, Doc. 7, fl. 5v. The inventory of D. Violante Couto da Silveira, c.c. Dr. Francisco Ribeiro de Araújo from 5.6.1695 mentions an old Indian colcha for 500 reis. 203 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B Maço 39 doc. 10, fl. 7v. The inventory of Bernardo da Gança from 6.1.1596 mentions three Indian colchas from 1000 to 6000 reis.

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merchants,204 a scribe for a tribunal,205 a cooper206 and a wealthy goventment official from Bahia207 – indicating that Brazil was a market for Indian goods, too. Moreover there was a shoemaker,208 a blacksmith,209 a tailor,210 a confectioner,211 a higher administrator or bookkeeper (contador da contadoria geral),212 a capitain,213 a candlemaker,214 a land owner or farmer215 and a mason.216 Several colchas are also mentioned in similar feitos findos inventories without the mention of the professional context of those concerned, but these persons are also very probably to be assigned to a wider middle class background.217

204 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B Maço 39 doc. 11, fl. 7. The inventoryof Bernardo Drago from 1597 mentions two Indian colchas, one for a bed, for each 2000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B Maço 40, Doc. 13, fl. 18. The inventory from 2.3.1695 mentions a colcha from Chaul made of various colours for 60.000 reis (!). It is the inventory of D. Brites Manuel wife of Francisco Mendes de Castro, a new Chrisitan accused of Judaism who was tried and lost everything to the inquisition. 205 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B maço 37 doc. 14, fl. 6. The inventory of Belchior Velho, son of Gaspar Serrão from 9.9.1600 mentions one Indian colcha for 2000 reis. 206 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra D, Maço 43, Doc. 25, fl. 3v. The inventory of Domingas Fernandes, wife of Bartolomeu João from 1604 mentions an old Indian colcha for 1000 reis. 207 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 40, Doc. 11, fl. 3v. The inventory of Beatriz Nunes, married to Vicente Rodrigues de Sousa from 22.4.1622 mentions a white Indian colcha for 2000 reis. 208 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra C, Maço 48, Doc. 7 (2.º doc.), fl. 5v. The inventory of António Mendes, married to Catarina Ribeira from 6.8.1659 mentions a silk colcha from India for 8000 reis. 209 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra C, Maço 47, Doc. 13, fl. 5v. The inventory of Cesário Bormão, married to Maria Pedrosa, from 21.10.1669 mentions an Indian colcha with fringes and yellow threads for 6000 reis. 210 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 40, Doc. 9 (2.º doc.), fl. 6-6v. The inventory of Antónia da Costa, married to Domingos Ferreira from 29.4.1669 mentions a white Indian colcha with yellow fringes for 4000 reis. 211 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 40, Doc. 17, fl. 4v. The inventory of Baltasar Almeida, married to Maria da Cruz from 19.0.1671 mentions a white Indian colcha for 8000 reis. 212 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra C, Maço 52, Doc. 1, fl. 7v. The inventoryof Catarina Carvalha married to Gregório Moreira from 16.1.1677 mentions an old Indian colcha for 3000 reis. 213 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra C, Maço 48, Doc. 7, fl. 5v. The inventory of João do Sal, married to D. Catarina Ribeira from 13.9.1677 mentions an Indian silk colcha embroidered in various colours for 8000 reis. 214 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 39, Doc. 9 (Doc. 2), fl. 7. The inventory of Manuel Gomes, cirieiro, married to Bárbara Correia from 10.4.1680 mentions one white Indian colcha with yellow fringes for 10.000 reis. 215 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra D, Maço 43, Doc. 17, fl. 5. The inventory of Domingos Luís, married to Luísa Coelho from 8.1.1699 mentions one Indian colcha, yellow, worked in threads with various colours, lined with fringes for 20.000 reis. 216 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 36, Doc. 4, fl. 6v. The inventory of Bento Franco, married to Isabel do Espírito Santo from 4.2.1699 mentions an embroidered Indian colcha. 217 IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 36, Doc. 5, fól. 6. The inventory of

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This trove mainly of feitos findos documents illustrates very well that from the late sixteenth century on, Indian colchas of different sizes, qualities and prizes were available to a generously defined middle class in Lisbon. The most expensive colchas for which the prices have survived could cost about twenty thousand reis around 1600 – these came mostly from Bengal. The most expensive pieces from the late seventeenth century could cost more than fifty thousand reis. The prices of the cheapest, often old colchas remain quite constant at one thousand to two thousand reis. All through the seventeenth century a decent colcha seems to have cost around eigth thousand to ten tounsand reis. It is surprising indeed that the prices for mid-range colchas did not increase sifgnificantly for one hundred years, despite inflation and Spanish bankrupcies, suggesting that Indian colchas became cheaper over time on the Portuguese market. Whether that happened because more pieces were produced, or whether demand decreased remains uncertain. The middle classes in general owned fewer Indian colchas than the nobles and theirs were cheaper, costing about a quarter of the more expensive ones which suggests an increasing diversification of colcha production in India. In fact Indian colchas of very different qualities survive, confirming what the inventories tell. The strong presence of colchas in the different inventories illustrates how densely woven the relevant social groups were into the colonial Portuguese network. The colchas’ descriptions tell whether they were used as floor spreads, coffin- or table covers. A few inventories mentioned above list colchas from Diu. This location has to be treated with care in this context as there was very little textile production in Diu itself,218 and the colBento Vaz de Eça, married to Luísa de Góis from 5.9.1587 mentions three used Indian colchas (one for a bed from Chaul) for 600, 1500 and 3000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra F, Maço 117, no. 7. The inventory of Francisco Gonçalves de Azevedo, married first to Catarina Rodrigues and then to Candida Antómia, from 1633 mentions one white Indian colcha(http:// digitarq.dgarq.gov.pt/details?id=4740326, consulted 11.12.2014). IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 40, Doc. 6, fl. 6v.-7. The inventory of Brígida Pedrosa, married to Manuel Moreira from 5.4.1656 mentions one old white Indian colcha for 1000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 39, Doc. 6, fl. 8. The inventory of Bárbara Antunes, married to António João from 23.4.1663 mentions a colcha from Sindh embroidered with colours for 10.000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra A, Maço 3, no. 10, caixa 5. The inventory of António Ferrão de Castelo Branco, married to Cristina Cardosa from 1665 mentions a large white Indian colcha (http://digitarq.dgarq.gov.pt/details?id=4608289 consulted, 11.12.2014). IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 40, Doc. 18, fl. 6v. The inventory of Baltasar Machado, married to Domingas Mendes from 9.9.1672 mentions an Indian colcha for 20.000 reis and one from Diu for 10.000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 39, Doc. 21, fl. 6. The inventory of Bernardo de Sepúlveda, married to Luísa Gonçalves from 8.10.1675 mentions an old Indian colcha for 3000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários Post-Mortem, Letra B, Maço 39, Doc. 9, fl. 6. The inventory of Bárbara Correia, married to Manuel Simões from 7.11.1693 mentions a white colcha with yellow fringes for 7000 reis. IAN/TT, Feitos Findos, Inventários PostMortem, Letra J, Maço 69, Doc. 1, fl. 6. The inventory of Isabel da Silva e Filipa Ferreira from 4.5.1695 mentions a white Indian colcha, old for 1500 reis. 218 Almeida Teles e Cunha, 1995, unpublished, p. 493.

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chas themselves were with a high degree of certainty not produced there but rather in and around the well organised urban centres of Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad and Cambay. The fringes and tassels described in the documents as decorating the edges of the colchas might have been added in Diu, which served as Portuguese entrepôt for goods from Gujarat and was in the case of the records taken as pars pro toto for the region of Gujarat. Other local production centres on the west Indian coast are occasionally mentioned in the records: Chaul and Sindh. It is however not yet clear what types of colchas were produced there.219 Given the geographical proximity, Portuguese records are in general the most elaborate and provide the most detailed information on the colchas. Information often was diluted as it travelled further.

COLCHAS IN THE HABSBURG GIFT-GIVING NETWORKS

The ruling dynasties of Portugal, Spain and Austria were closely related, from 1580 Spain and Portugal were ruled in personal union by the Habsburgs. In order to maintain good relations the Habsburgs family branches not only exchanged brides but also many gifts. During her lifetime the aforementioned Queen Catarina of Portugal, a sister of Charles V, played an important distributive part in this network. 220 Among many other exotic items, textiles were often chosen as gifts within the family. As early as 1567, the future Emperor Rudolf II received “eleven pieces of Indian silk for two canopies [...] three embroidered colchas two white and the other of taffeta” from Madrid.221 The early date is quite remarkable but the description is unfortunately not very detailed. In 1589 the Empress Maria sent her daughter, Elisabeth, wife of King Charles IX of France “two Indian colchas.”222 One of these, an “embroidered Indian coverlet with figures and animals, very pretty” is listed in Elisabeth’s inventory.223 In 1591 the Archduke Albrecht, who was viceroy of Portugal and thus had direct access to goods arriving from India, gave the ambassador Hans von Khevenhüller a variety of gifts including not only tortoiseshell chests but also “four white colchas embroidered, two carpets with gold [...] two silk colchas painted [...] two colchas with hunting scenes” for Rudolf II .224 In 1594 Maria sent “a colcha with yellow embroidery with a small cape worked in the 219 See also: Dias, 1998, p. 336; Barros, 2001, p. 111. 220 Jordan Gschwend/Pérez de Tudela, 2001. Publication of Habsburg records that illustrate the exchange of exotic goods within the Habsburg family network. 221 Valladolid, Archivo General de Simancas (hereafter AGS), Cámara de Castilla, Libro de Cédulas de Paso, no.360, fol. 116v. May 10th, 1567; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 38. 222 Valladolid, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Libro de Cédulas de Paso, no. 362, fol. 231v. Madrid, January 19th 1589; quoted from Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 68. 223 quoted from: Vienna, 1894; reg. 12154, p. CXVI, no. 73. 224 Valladolid, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Libro de Cédulas de Paso, no. 362, fol. 471r. San Lorenzo, September 18th 1591; Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela 2001, p. 74. See also ongoing Getty project: Annemarie Jordan Gschwend (coord.): Statesman, Art Agent and Connoisseur: Hans Khevenhüller, Imperial Ambassador at the Court of Philip II of Spain.

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same manner” to the Imperial Court in Vienna.225 The small cape was probably similar to that surviving in the collection from Schloss Ambras, perhaps it was the same. Finally in 1609, Margarete, Queen of Spain, sent “two bedcovers, one of them made of feathers from India and the other embroidered from India lined with blue taffeta” to her brother Archduke Mathias, the future emperor.226 The feather coverlet could also be from the Americas, the embroidered one is certainly from India. Sixteenth-century sources do not always distinguish between the two parts of the world. Apart from gift-giving the Habsburgs also inherited things: the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia inherited “an Indian colcha embroidered with threads and stitches representing figures and animals, another from India embroidered of white taffeta” from her father King Philip II.227 The inventory from 1593 of Elisabeth, a daughter of Maximilian II and the former Queen of France, lists an Indian cover with animals and figures.228 Colchas considered exceptional were stored in specific places. The important 1596 inventory of the collection of Schloss Ambras of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol lists in cupboard no. 17, the variocasten, a monochrome yellow colcha and a Bengal cape called haarmäntelchen (combing cape) in the document.229 Both probably arrived from Spain as gifts from a family member, in 1592 for instance Ferdinand II received “four colchas, three of Portuguese India and the other made in Castilia” from Madrid.230 Both the colcha and a Bengali cape survive today in the Kunstkammer collection in Schloss Ambras.231 Their positioning in the famous Kunstkammer is revealing, since only the most valuable, most novel and rarest items then available were integrated into this nucleus of Habsburg collecting. Their concept was best described by Samuel Quiccheberg in his 1565 treatise entitled Inscriptiones vel Tituli Theatri Amplissimi.232 In such collections, these exotic colchas were part of a cosmic system en miniature: the world viewed by the perfect prince. There they represented the riches of the region of their origin as pars pro toto.233 In this context the colcha and the cape were stored together with other textile items mainly from the Ottoman Empire, suggesting the archduke’s fascination for a then still rare material, cotton. 225 Valladolid, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Libro de Cédulas de Paso, no. 363, fol. 149v. Madrid, May 2nd 1594; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 81. 226 Madrid, Archivo Historico Nacional, Consejos, libro 2305, fols. 74r. – 74v. letter of Philip II. the Viceroy of Catalonia, Madrid, March sixteenth 1609; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela 2001, p. 101. 227 Valladolid, AGS, Cámara de Castilla, Libro de Cédulas de Paso, no. 365, fol. 43r. Valladolid, April 1st 1602; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 93. 228 Trnek, 2001, p.305. 229 Boeheim, 1888, p. CCCVII; Wilckens, 1980, pp. 39-44. 230 Madrid, Archivo Historico Nacional, Consejos, libro 2394, fol. 55v. Letter to the viceroy in Valencia, Montejo, June 18th 1592; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/ Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 78. 231 See catalogue: Vienna 2000, p. 216. Similar embroidered capes are in the Museu Nacional do Traje in Lisbon, the Metropolitan Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. 232 Roth, 2001. 233 E.g.: Impey/MacGregor (eds.), 1985.

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Colchas between India and Europe

Apart from the inventory of Archduke Ferdinand’s Ambras Kunstkammer there are colchas listed in the inventory of the even more famous Kunstkammer of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, drawn up in 1607/11. It contains about 2,080 entries of heterogeneous nature and provenance ranging from Latin books to rare and precious objects from all over the known world, and materia medica, including Italian paintings and Indian cutlery.234 Within the inventory there is a large section of almost thirty folios written on both sides, which is predominantly dedicated to objects attributed roughly to ‘India’. This specific section of the inventory is written mostly in German, but also partly in Spanish (probably revealing the provenance of the pieces concerned) and describes objects that were then considered ‘Indian’. Under the heading "Indian writing desks and chests and what is found within", the following embroideries are described as lying in “quite a big Indian chest carved with elevated scrollwork and gilt […] one quilted coverlet embroidered with yellow silk and with yellow fringes and buttons. One Indian skirt [or mantle] in yellow and red silk embroidered with figures and animals."235 Given the context and description, both were very probably from India. The placement of the colchas within the inventory itself is interesting. The order of the inventory reveals geography to be an important distributive factor in the collection alongside material – in the author’s view even more important than the latter. The Indian section is placed following a section of objects related to the sea – including fish, crabs and sea-urchins – from which it makes its transition by way of some Indian mother-of-pearl objects and furniture (in which the colchas are folded); it is succeeded by the ‘Turkish’ section, which is also dominated by artistic craftwork. The major share of the objects designated as such are indeed Indian but many others are sure to have originated in other places – such as the nine Mexican feather-paintings. The colchas were probably yet again family gifts. In addition to the pieces mentioned before, in 1609 Rudolf II received more gifts from Spain, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II, wife of Archduke Albrecht the viceroy of Portugal and later governor of the Netherlands sent an Indian bedcover and matching curtains to Rudolf II.236 The inventories discussed supplement the travel accounts and historical works, and illustrate that Indian colchas were available in certain circles in Europe beyond Portugal since the mid sixteenth century. The increasing presence of colchas in the records also confirms the findings of economic historians who verified a rapid increase in the volume of the hugely important private trade during the second half of the sixteenth century. The records place the colchas in their cultural context and illustrate the continued importance of luxury textiles as gifts, they demonstrate a considerable presence of Indian textiles within

234 Fučíková, 1985, pp. 47-53. According to Fučíková, who compared the different inventories of the emperor, this inventory lists only about half all items of his collection. 235 Bauer/Haupt (ed.), 1976, pp. 30-32, nos. 548, 549. 236 Trnek, 2001, p. 306.

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the households of aristocrats from Portugal and stress the importance of mediating merchants. Their presence in the diverse inventories supports the dating of the textiles, as they are mentioned frequently from the 1560s onwards. In addition, the inventories provide valuable information on the consumers and the reception and use of the colchas – to be discussed in the next chapter – and other exotic objects in the Habsburg family network. Especially the Portuguese records repeatedly mention the origins of the colchas in Bengal and Gujarat and illustrate the large variety of Indian textiles exported to Europe. They also attest that during the seventeenth century the vogue for colchas spread to the middle classes, as cheaper varieties entered the market. It becomes clear that the closer an author of an inventory or a letter was to the colchas and the context of the Portuguese expansion, the more detailed was the information provided in his text. The more de-contextualized from its origins, the less detailed were the descriptions applied to the colchas. A merchant with trading contacts in India or the secretary of a Goan archbishop were naturally well-informed since the Indian trade-goods formed part of their daily lives. An administrator in Florence or Vienna, on the other hand, saw the textiles in the context of his master’s possessions: he gained his living not from any profit inherent in the textile but from the generosity of his prince. The case of Sassetti’s colchas destined for the Medici demonstrates that even though detailed information in the form of letters on colchas was present at court by the time the inventory was compiled, the administrator made no use of it. Not only the inventories provide valuable information regarding the dating of colchas. A few colchas surviving in old collections and of which the original owner is known provide more detailed information on this matter. These textiles are of special importance as they provide a fragmentary stylistic framework into which other colchas can be placed. Comparative stylistic analysis of the textiles enables the relating of the colchas in date and the establishment of developments within groups. The former owners each give a hint not only on the dating but also on how the colchas were received in either a Portuguese household or a princely collection. One such example is a Bengal colcha already featuring European details from Schloss Ambras – already mentioned before – that was listed in Archduke Ferdinand’s II 1596 inventory (cat. no. 2).237 There are three Bengal colchas from Swedish collections which offer clues to dating too: a prototypal colcha – without any European elements – of the red group (cat. no. 28-30) was mentioned in a royal inventory from 1627, another prototype colcha is from the Skokloster collection, whose household was built up during the seventeenth century, and a third was donated to a Swedish church in 1662 (the latter two are comparable to cat. no. 5, 6); the year was added to the textile.238 The three pieces are probably older than the date of the inventories mentioning them or illustrate the longevity of success237 Boeheim, 1888, p. CCCVII. 238 Geijer, 1951, pp. 119, 120, nos. 120, 121, 122.

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ful pattern designs in Bengal production. Another quite accomplished Bengal colcha from the compact group today in Colonial Williamsburg includes an inscription mentioning the former owner (cat. no. 14) whose life spanned the later seventeenth and early eighteenth century. A yellow Bengal colcha of the compact group is today in the Tokugawa family collection of Nagoya (cat. no. 13).239 Even though no relevant inventory exists, the historical circumstances give the approximate date of this colcha: the Portuguese traded successfully in Japan until they were expelled in 1639. It is therefore not surprising to find this textile in the possession of the family of the Shogun, to whom it may have been presented. The date of expulsion, 1639, gives a plausible terminus ante quem for the production of the colcha, unless it was brought by the Dutch later, who were the only remaining foreign merchants in Japan.240 Finally, a Bengal colcha including the story of Phaeton survives in the Palacio Nacional in Sintra, once in the possession of the Portuguese royal family but as yet not identified in any inventory. Two more colchas from West India are linked to the Habsburg family and survive today in ecclesiastical contexts: one golden colcha in Klausen in Südtirol (cat. no. 44) must be dated pre-1700 and a Gujarati colcha featuring a bird is in the Descalzas Reales monastery in Madrid that very probably dates to before 1640, the date of Portuguese independence and thus a probable terminus ante quem (cat. no. 33). One more Indian embroidery for export – a piece linked to the group of golden colchas – survives in the Topkapi Saray Museum, where the holdings of the Ottoman dynasty are kept, no inventory has hitherto traced it back.241

239 Tokugawa Bijutsukan, 2009, pp. 147–148, no. 102, image p. 89. 240 Guy, 1998, p. 166. 241 Rogers, 1987, p.108.

Reception and Use

Textiles played a vital role in Indian life, and still do. Daily activities within a household often took place while seated on the floor. Furniture such as chairs or writing desks were not in frequent use. In this context, textiles of all kinds and qualities played an important part in furnishing everything from nomad tents to sumptuous palaces, mosques and temples. Walking through the remains of the splendid Mughal palaces in Agra and Fathepur Sikri, one has to picture them decorated with the most valuable textiles imaginable. They enhanced the splendour of architectural ensembles and endowed them with an even more luxurious atmosphere. To provide an idea of Mughal luxury the French traveller and physician Bernier described the tent city, lashkar, of the Emperor Aurangzeb in 1664: “You walk on nothing but rich rugs laid over cotton mats some three or four inches thick and round these rugs there are large square brocade cushions against which to recline.”242 It is not surprising that out of basic and ceremonial need the Portuguese in India soon turned to local craft production and life style in order to build and decorate their houses churches and cities, and compete in splendour with the Indian potentates. Very little is known about the interior decoration of Portuguese Indian houses. Goa and Bassein were renowned for magnificent, extravagant processions in which all churches, palaces and ships participated, for example on the occasion of a Catholic holiday or after a victory in a battle at sea that was won against hostile fleets. On occasions such as these the local society showed all its splendour in processions across the festively decorated city of Goa. Colchas and many other rich textiles were doubtless involved, as is shown on a print depicting the Goan market by Johannes Doetechum illustrating Linschoten’s Navigatio ac Itinerarium from 1599:243 like carpets and other textiles, colchas could be hung out of the windows when processions passed and could even be used in them. The iconographies of most Bengal and Gujarati colchas were not particularly suitable for usage in churches and in Catholic missions in India. However, the mixing of sacred and profane contexts was not unusual at the time. Sets of Bengal church vestments of the Museu do Oriente and the Museu Nacional do Traje (both in Lisbon) bear witness to the existence of a certain production for ecclesiastical use. The Augustinians were zealously establishing themselves in Bengal and at least since 1600 had their own churches there. According to Maria João Pacheco Ferreira, who searched Portugal’s churches for Chinese vestments – of 242 See: Okada, 1995, image: 9. 243 Image in: Bowen, McAleer, Blyth, 2011, pp. 66, 67.

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which there are many – hardly any vestments of Indian fabrication survive.244 This is curious indeed, but might be because Jesuit missionaries, who often commissioned and sent these vestments to Portugal, were much more active in China than in Bengal and Gujarat. The following quotations illustrate that valuable exotic textiles were used in religious contexts. In 1560 one hundred and seventeen Indians were baptised in Thana near modern-day Bombay. A concert was organised and canon salutes were fired, a procession was led through the city and the church richly decorated. Chinese textiles were laid around the altar and a canopy was installed.245 In the same year the feast of the eleven thousand virgins was celebrated. The church of the Jesuit college was richly decorated with brocade altar frontals, carpets and banners, the lower walls were decorated with leather hangings (guadamicins) and the upper parts with the newest tapestry from China and some large painted textiles from China, illustrated with stories, hunting scenes and celebrations.246 With such splendid workmanship the missionaries enjoyed a wider appeal among local people. Chinese textiles in turn were considered exotic in the Indian context. One wonders if Indian colchas were used on such occasions as well. In Europe too, colchas could be used for ceremonial purposes. In 1571, the Papal legate made his festive entry into Lisbon. He was received in the port by Cardinal Henrique and continued his way up the hill to the royal palace, the castelo. The streets were richly decorated with textiles, rich carpets and colchas were hung out of the windows. The more windows a house had and the closer they were to one another, the more splendid the impression.247 Festive entries like this one were destined to make a profound impression on the official visitors, who would spread the fame of the riches of Lisbon. As an incentive to decorate one’s house for a solemn entry, a prize was given to the most beautifully and inventively decorated house façade en route. Streets were again decorated on the occasion of the first entry of Philip II of Spain into Lisbon in 1581: “the streets and windows were decorated with rich brocades and silks and fine carpets that endowed them with splendour […] worthy of the triumph of such a […] monarch.”248 It is telling and will be discussed in detail later that the iconographic programme of the entries into Lisbon of the Spanish Kings in 1581 and 1619 show a considerable parallels to the programme of some of the colchas. The varied use of colchas continued once they were in the possession of the European consumer. Documents such as the inventories quoted before are vital for showing how colchas were used. Some of their functions were already indicated in the records of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, where we read about colcha for the floor (colchas de 244 245 246 247 248

Pacheco Ferreira, 2007. The author thanks Carla Alferes Pinto for pointing out the piece. Wicki, 1956, p. 634. Wicki, 1956, pp. 732. On the use of Chinese textiles in India see also Dias, 2004. Ferrão, 1990, pp. 197 Guerreiro, 1581, chap. XXVIII: Come el Rey foi à Sé & do caminho q[ue] levou, & do arco do pe da Padaria.

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chão), colcha for a bed (colchas de cama), or for a coffin (esquife) and table colchas or tapestries, hangings (panos de armar or dappezereyen). The use of each colcha needs to be defined according to what it represented, and we must keep in mind that most of them also changed their function in the course of time and according to place. What was used as a bedcover may have later been used as a tablecloth or hanging, once integrated into a museum the colcha became a didactic instrument. In her mestrado, Susana Pedroso discussed Portuguese aristocratic interiors during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: palatial walls were mostly covered by embossed and gilded leather panels, tiles – azulejos, silk textiles often in gold and silver or tapestries; the latter two were reserved for the most prestigious places in a palace. Interior decoration changed with the seasons.249 The question arises where Indian colchas could be hung in these palaces. Most of them were not of gold, thus not suitable for the noblest rooms in a palace, for instance the reception rooms of the high aristocracy. Their beds too would be decorated with expensive silk rather than cotton textiles, at least in winter. The impression most contemporary inventories convey hints at a rather traditional interior decoration for the pre-eminent official rooms – exceptions existed of course. It is therefore more probable that colchas, if hung on walls, were used in more intimate sections of the house, just as later in the seventeenth century most chinoiserie decoration was restricted to the more private rooms of a palace. Palaces were of course decorated differently from houses of normal citizens, where colchas could be used more freely on the walls. Documentation shows that from the later sixteenth century on, Indian colchas were owned by the middle classes. Sumptuary laws forbidding select, valuable materials presented one factor to be dealt with even by a wealthy merchant when decorating his house. Some of the colchas, especially those imitating gold such as the yellow Bengal ones were a good alternative wall decoration in this kind of situation. During the sixteenth century the bed gained importance in Portuguese interiors and served important ceremonial purposes; a development that was also helped in Portugal by the import of large numbers of painted, inlaid and lacquered beds from India and China from at least the mid sixteenth century onwards. It was therefore decorated with valuable textiles, in palatial environments mostly with valuable silk. Depending on their decoration and the basic structure of the beds, they were decorated with matching textiles – these were often listed together in contemporary inventories.250 Such ensembles could include a colcha, cushions, a bed canopy, curtains (many of which survive, for instance in the Palazzo Venezia and the Cooper Hewitt Museum) and valences, a surrounding border for the lower part of the bed and an embroidered rug.251 However, even though large in size, many Indian 249 Pedroso, 2003, pp. 80-88. 250 Pedroso, 2003, pp. 88–101 251 Thornton, 1978, pp. 174–179

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colchas were not large enough to cover the sides of a bigger bed and would make a rather awkward fit. They were longer than broad and could cover only narrow beds, perhaps such types that were imported from India. They could also be hung at the top end of larger beds. Quilts for beds often have rectangles added to three of the four sides that would hang down the bed and leave room free for the bedposts. None of the Indian colchas studied here has such additions. To restrict the colchas’ use to mere bed covers is thus surely too limiting. Their strength was their versatility. The pieces with more neutral motifs, such as flowers or hunting scenes, could be used in more varied ways; the colchas depicting a more complex vertically oriented iconography (for example the Solomon colchas) were more probably employed as hangings. The Bengal colcha from Colonial Williamsburg (USA) (cat. no.14) was said to have matching pillows which indicates that it was part of an ensemble destined to decorate a bench or a bed. Colchas were apt to be used in the context of the estrado – a common feature in Portuguese palaces – a low indoor platform covering a large part of the room. It was decorated with valuable textiles and small pieces of furniture manufactured exclusively for it. Many contemporary paintings bear witness to their luxurious decoration. The ladies of the court sat on the floor of the estrado and spent their time reading and sewing or talking while the queen held her receptions there. The summer months could be very hot in Lisbon and woollen carpets were too hot to be used in this season. During the summer months the woollen carpets on the estrado may have either been covered or substituted by much lighter textiles such as embroidered colchas.252 The Asian splendour of the Portuguese Empire was transported beyond the Estado da Índia and Portugal. From 1675 to 1682 the Archbishop of Braga D. Luís de Sousa was the Portuguese ambassador in Rome. He had his palace there sumptuously furnished for ceremonial purposes. Interestingly, one of the rooms was decorated with an Indian canopy.253 Possibly, the ambassador received his visitors sitting under this Indian canopy, connoting the Asian connection of the Portuguese crown he represented. As indicated before, colchas also became coveted collectibles. In the Habsburg context several colchas were stored in boxes or cupboards in the famous collections of Rudolf II and Ferdinand of Tyrol. In Medici Florence they were housed in the Casino di San Marco and probably served as showpieces for artists working there. The systematic organisation of the Habsburg and to a lesser extant the Medici collections suggests that some exotic textiles were an integral part of the underlying concept of the collections – collections that pretended to be nothing less than a reflection of the known world en miniature. Indian colchas integrated into these collections signalled the owner’s knowledge and virtual possession of this part of the world. In this context they were not considered objects of daily 252 Hallett/Pacheco Pereira, 2007. 253 Arquivo da Biblioteca da Ajuda, 54-XI-36 (95), fl. 3.

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use but of items that served a major purpose, that of illustrating the collector’s knowledge and power. Looking at the colchas’ varied uses it becomes clear that their usage changed from place to place, from owner to owner and – of course – with the passage of time. Initially colchas were curiosities to European eyes, prefabricated images of the little known subcontinent. It was the transformation of the colchas from exotic souvenirs into commodities of taste and fashion and the subsequent diversification into a broader range of designs and qualities that made them much coveted goods.254 Today only one hundred or so colchas survive, originally there must have been thousands.

254 Berg, 2008, pp. 85–142.

Material, Colour, Technique and Designs

The main indicator for classifying the colchas is geography: they were made in Bengal and in Gujarat.255 The most obvious difference between the colchas of both regions is colour. While most Bengal colchas were made with an undyed white foundation and yellow embroidery, making the depicted scenes hard to distinguish, the Gujarati colchas shimmer with many colours. The basic layout, style, technique, iconography and material differ in addition: the predominating foundation material of the Bengal colcha is tabby weave cotton, rarely silk (if silk was used it was executed in tabby weave). In order to obtain the large rectangle foundation of the colchas, diverse widths of cotton or silk cloth were sewn together. The rectangular foundation textile was lined to provide stability, forming a surface of about seven or more square metres and consisting of several widths of fabric. Parts of the embroidery went through several layers of fabric; a colcha consists of several layers of cloth. As noted in the records, some lining, fringes and tassels were often added later. 256 The embroideries were predominantly executed in chain stitch with tussar silk from antheraea paphia, which was available in situ.257 The Gujarati colchas were more varied in material, style and technique. Mostly, the visible foundation material consisted of satin (silk satin or silk satin with cotton in the warp), cotton was also used. The embroidery was executed in bright colours mostly in chain stitch with bombyx mori silk; in one specific group satin stitch predominated and gold and silver threads were used in couching technique, rendering them extremely valuable.258 (cat. no. 41–45) Gold was then – and still is – a treasured import good to India, where it was scarce. A great amount of bullion was imported via the ports of Gujarat. Textiles embroidered with gold indicate that they were made for the luxury market. Not all mulberry silk yarns used for Gujarati colcha embroidery seem to have come from India. Apart from being an enthusiast for Goan women, the Florentine traveller and merchant Francesco Carletti, who travelled the globe for years doing business, left precious evidence of the Asian textile trade. In his account he described arriving in Goa from China 255 This study follows and elaborates the classification elaborated by John Irwin in his publications. See bibliography. 256 As pointed out in the introduction, the technical analysis of the individual pieces remains to be studied. 257 On chain stitch: Thomas, 1977, pp. 32, 33; Amoroso Leslie, 2007, pp. 40–43; Wanner-JeanRichard, 2014, p. 60, 61; on material: Varadarajan, 1983, p. 95. 258 On couching stitch: Thomas, 1977, pp. 54–57; Amoroso Leslie, 2007, pp. 43–46. In more detail also on the production of the gold thread: Gupta, 1996, pp. 71–129.

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in 1599. There he sold undyed Chinese silk threads he had bought in Macao explicitly for its use in embroideries to a Gujarati merchant heading for Cambay, making a considerable profit.259 This type of silk thread might have been more apt for satin stitch, widely employed in Chinese export embroidery, but also in the golden and silver colchas attributed to Gujarat.260 The materials used for the colchas, cotton and silk, were abundant in India. Neither was expensive but often had to be transported over long distances to be processed. Commercial sericulture was introduced in Bengal in the first half of the sixteenth century, under the last sultans of the Husain Shai dynasty. Its production grew rapidly in the course of the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the first half of the eighteenth century under Mughal and Nawabite rules.261 Sites for the Bengal production of cultivated silk were located in West Bengal; especially Murshidabad, Kasimbazar and Burdwan were important centres of silk production.262 Indian silk was cheaper than Ming-Chinese or Safavid Iranian silk and almost of the same quality. The latter depended on the time of harvest, the species of caterpillar used and the plant they were bred on. The most commonly cultivated silk was bombyx mori, which thanks to its round, multifaceted fibres is characterized by a special brilliance, reflecting the light in all directions.263 In addition to cultivated silk, three sorts of wild silks were found in India: eri, muga and, most important for this study, tussar. Thomas Wardle wrote in his Wild Silks of India that “the moths (of the tussar silk) as regarded by the natives, who see in them a resemblance to the chakra or discus of the god Vishnu, and from this consider the moth a sacred insect“ – a telling fact, since it stresses the importance of tussar silk in Bengal culture. He characterises tussar silk by “a glassy vitreous look, reflecting a little glare of light from the angle of incidence on its flat surface.“264 Whereas Gujarati colchas were made of mulberry silk, for the Bengal colcha production, tussar silk was mostly used for the embroidery. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries tussar silk was commercially produced only in Bengal, and John Irwin states that this fact alone would prove that Bengal was the production centre of the colchas. Tussar silk production had a longer tradition in Bengal than cultivated silk and was located in the northern and south-western hilly areas such as Assam in the north, Midnapur in the South West and Birbhum in the North West.265 Portuguese presence there was not particularly evident but they probably featured as one of the many buyers of silk there or bought it from intermediary merchants. Most of these places were connected to Hugli and Satgaon 259 260 261 262 263 264 265

Bluth (ed.), 1966, p. 249; Pacheco Ferreira, 2006–2007, pp. 169–180. Pacheco Ferreira, 2007. Mukherjee, 2006, introduction. Mukherjee, 2006; See also Varadarajan, 1988, pp. 561–570; Davini, 2008; Davini, 2009, pp. 57–79. Wardle, 1880, p.19. Wardle, 1880, p. 19. Irwin, 1952, p. 70.

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through the vast navigable delta of the Ganges. The raw material could easily be transported on the river. Perhaps the Portuguese bought tussar silk from Midnapur which was the production centre closest to Hugli. The revealing misunderstanding mentioned before concerning tussar silk being spun from a herb and not from a silk worm is an illuminating and important factor when interpreting many contemporary documents. This belief came about because the cocoon, when still on the plant, looked like a fruit. Herba silk is yet another common designation for tussar silk. The misleading identification was widespread and maintained for a long period. Linschoten for instance, well informed as usual, compared tussar silk with linen but talks of it as a herb: “likewise they make whole peeces or webbs of this herbae [tussar silk], sometimes mixed

and woven with silke, although those of the herbae it selfe are dearer and more esteemed, and is much fayrer then the silke. These webs are named sarij and it is much used and worne in India ... and it may be washed like linen, it sheweth and continueth as faire as if it were new.”266

Even the Dutch botanist Rumphius initially thought in 1691 that tussar silk was spun from a plant and not a silk-cocoon.267 This misunderstanding led to the designation of the different herba, lawne or grass textiles in the records. All textiles were dyed with natural colours whose pigments were extracted from plants, minerals, animals and the like.268 Under the reign of Jahangir, 400 different dyes were known in India.269 Which dyes were used for the colchas still has to be determined. Of special importance for the Indian economy was the blue indigo dye with its centres in Sarkej in Gujarat and in Biana near Agra.270 It is possible that the blue foundation of some of the Bengal colchas was dyed in one of these two centres. Most but not all Bengal colchas feature no more than two colours: white and yellow. This is unusual, since there is not much difference between the undyed white of the foundation material (mostly undyed cotton) and the light yellow of the silk embroidery, and the design reveals itself only at close sight. The records discussed show that the colour combination existed already before the arrival of the Portuguese, and the early BengaloIslamic style colchas are also made in this colour combination.271 Not only the colchas, but also cushions, capes, garments, curtains and church vestments were produced in this col266 267 268 269 270 271

Burnell/Tiele, 1935, vol. I, p. 96. Irwin, 1957, pp. 69 mentions Rumphiu‘s work: Herbarium Amboinese of 1691. Cardon, 2007; Gittinger, 1982. Walker, 1983, vol. I, pp. 317. Bethencourt/Chaudhuri, vol. III. 1998, pp.130. Gift of the King of Melinde to Vasco da Gama: Correia, 1858–1866, p. 287.

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our combination in Bengal. Medieval Europe also knew monochromatic embroideries.272 For instance the quilted Sicilian coverlet, the so called Guicciardini quilt. Similar to many Bengal colchas, it tells the story of a hero, in this case from North European mythology, Tristan.273 In a chemical investigation carried out by Carmo Serrano in the Instituto Nacional de Restauração/Instituto Figueiredo in Lisbon, it was confirmed that the natural yellow of tussar silk was not additionally dyed in some colchas. Authors of earlier works also on Bengal colchas have pointed out that the tussar silk was of undyed natural yellow. This is indeed true for some colchas, in others traces of degradation products were found which provides a hint that the silk of some colchas was dyed.274 The fading of colour through exposure to light and washing would explain why so many surviving colchas today feature such weak colour contrasts. Given this information one has to imagine the original state of the colchas somewhat brighter with a more intense yellow for the embroidery, in a tone close to gold. The final effect of a new colcha was then close to golden embroidery and imitated this precious material; this seems the most probable reason for the choice of this colour combination.275 Compared to the today rather pale Bengal colchas the polychrome Gujarati embroideries are more appealing to the eye; the designs are visible at first glance. Colours and style of many of these colchas are close to Mughal artistic expressions that developed at about the same time. Once the foundation was sewn and the threads chosen, the basic layout and designs were drawn either directly onto the foundation material of the colcha or on a perforated cartoon to be then transferred to the textile in the prick-and-pounce-method described by Irwin. The lines were pounced through to the cartoon and onto the fabric with coal dust. The embroiderers followed these lines or points and in some cases the drawing is still visible.276 Once the outlines were on the textile the embroiderer could start his work; the only instruments he needed were needles or the ari. The main stitch used in India for the colchas was chain stitch. Additionally, backstitch, running stitch and knot stitch were employed on the colchas.277 It has been suggested that most of the embroidery was carried out with a hook – the ari – and not with needles. This was confirmed by Babette Küster from the Grassi Museum in Leipzig for their colcha and is probably true for many others. Stitch272 Different medieval examples from all over Europe in: Schuette/Müller-Christensen, nos. 131, 133, 134, 162, 164, 330 etc. 273 Berenson, 2010, p. 25–27. 274 Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 77–91. 275 For the importance of the colour gold/yellow in Indian and European culture see: Bhandarkar, 1965; Walker, 1983, p. 576; and the exhibition catalogue: Skelton/ Francis (eds.), 1979, p. 68. 276 Irwin/Hall, 1973. 277 Thomas, 1977, pp. 3-7, 177–178, 138–140; Amoroso Leslie, 2007, pp. 101–104, 181–187, 187–190; Wanner-JeanRichard, 2014, pp. 8, 9, 30, 31, 64, 65.

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ing with the ari was more regular and quicker. John Irwin reports about his observations on the use of the ari: “a) he (the embroiderer) sat with the cloth lying loosely on his raised knee (no frame be-

ing used). The pattern side was right up b) He held the hook in his right hand, the wooden handle being embedded in the palm; his forefinger was extended so that the tip of the nail pressed at right-angles against the steel arm of the hook. He showed me a metal nail-

guard used by those whose nails were soft and easily damaged by constant work. c) The hook was inserted downwards into the cloth and a small loop of silk engaged. d) The hook was the pulled through and re-inserted, and so on. In this way the chain stitches were worked very rapidly and evenly.” 278

Embroiderers were well trained and “a skilled worker can stitch at speed and bring certain individuality to the work. Whatever technique is being employed, the embroiderer works with the face of the fabric upwards the action is to stitch from oneself whenever possible.”279 Probably more than one embroiderer worked on a single colcha; hardly anything is known about these people. Sitting in a circle around the textile holding frames or having it rolled on a beam, each stitched his section. In the embroidery workshop, which still exists in the Museu do Castelo Branco, it takes four professional female embroiderers almost a year to finish one of the colchas of Castelo Branco. The Bengal and Gujarati embroiderers were probably paid by the finished textile and not by the hour. Work with the ari proceeded quite quickly. Depending on the quality of the colcha and the quantity of embroiderers working on it, it took several weeks to several months to finish one piece. Generally, the strictly symmetrical layout of the Bengal colchas is more complex than that of Gujarati colchas. The field is generally divided into two to four borders divided by guard stripes, and a rectangular middle field, which is again subdivided by different geometrical forms. The narrative aspect of the iconography is in the foreground at the cost of a more considered design. The design of the colchas from Gujarat is much simpler, the narrative aspect much reduced: usually one broad border with guard stripes is laid around a symmetrically arranged middle field, somewhat reminiscent of sixteenth century Safavid medallion carpet design. Artistic forms from Iran had long influenced specific aspects of Indian art. A vivid artistic interchange persisted during the centuries of the Indian sultanates and continued through the Mughal period. In India the imported forms were filtered and adapted. In the court workshops local artists collaborated with those arriving from other parts of the Islamic world. For instance, looking at certain sultanate manuscripts one sees striking resemblances to some colcha designs.280 278 Irwin/Hanish, 1970, pp. 3–16. 279 Morrel, 1994, p. 115. 280 Brac de la Perrière, 2008.

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The narrative Bengal colchas were strongly influenced by European prints provided by the Portuguese; however, stylistically they also bear close resemblance to the decoration of the contemporary Bengali brick temples.281 Both, embroideries and temples, show robust figures, no depth in composition and horror vacui. In the colchas both influences were combined (local style and foreign contents and forms). Like the colchas, the brick temples of Bengal bear dense narrative programmes often divided into rectangular fields. It is not impossible that the textiles used in these temples featured similar dense narratives. The side by side placement of narratives on textiles existed in India and Europe (see the aforementioned Guicchardini quilt but also, in a much larger format, the historical or mythological series of Brussels tapestries). Gujarati production of colchas was in turn more strongly influenced by Safavid and Mughal art but was also enriched by European motifs deriving from prints. There is a parallel to this in furniture design: Indian pieces of furniture commissioned by or given to the Portuguese feature scenes deriving from European prints as early as the mid-sixteenth century. The earliest group among these are the Ceylonese ivory caskets. Just as the colchas, the iconographic programme of some of them reflects contemporary politics.282 While the iconography of the Bengal colchas is highly complex, combining scenes including the Old Testament, antique mythology, Roman history, Christian symbolism and scenes of everyday life, the Gujarati colchas are more accessible in their iconography focusing on a few, central motifs.

281 Ghosh, 2005. 282 Ferrão, vol. 3, 1990, pp. 78–95, 154–171; Vienna, 2000, pp. 234–242.

Bengal Colchas

The production period for the Portuguese embroidery commissions in Satgaon/Hugli region date to between the mid-sixteenth century and the early eighteenth century, with a probable brief interruption after 1632, the fall of Hugli. The most striking feature is that most Bengal colchas were embroidered with one colour only: in yellow tussar silk on a white cotton foundation, most probably to imitate gold embroidery. This would on the one hand enhance their splendour and on the other circumvent sumptuary laws that regulated the use of gold and silver.283 The materials and techniques used remain the same throughout the time in question, only the later colchas tend to use red or blue embroidery instead of yellow. The strictly symmetrical basic layout of the Bengal colchas – the division into borders, middle field and centre – also remains quite similar during the whole period and provides a stable factor for analysing or dating these colchas. The decoration however, which fills the given geometrical constituents of the colchas’ foundation, developed significantly during the period in question because of the successive integration of European elements and the development of these adaptations. In the overall design of the Bengal colchas there is thus a stable factor (the geometrical basic layout) and a flexible one (the decoration within the layout). Their iconography developed as well; Bengal colchas show the most complex iconographic programme of all known Portuguese-commissioned art works in Asia.

THE PHASES OF PRODUCTION

Coherent in development, the Bengal colchas can be roughly distributed into three phases and three intertwined groups.284 The transitions from one phase to the other and between the groups are blurred. Whereas the main distribution factor into three phases mark the chronological development and illustrate the degree and maturity of integration and adaptation of new forms, the distribution into three groups illustrates the stylistically different decoration of the colchas. The development of the different phases starts with colchas that do not show any European influence at all and were originally purveyed to the Indian sultanate courts and the market of the Islamic world. Referring to one such prototype embroidery from the royal Swedish collection Agnes Geijer already mentioned that it “represents […] a genuine 283 Crespo, 2012, pp.93–148. 284 Karl, 2004c.

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Muhammadan Indian type from which all others derived.”285 These textiles mark the first phase discussed in this study and are called prototypes (such as cat. nos. 1, 5, 6), textiles that are homogeneous in style and still without any European influences. They represent the first stage of Portuguese intervention into Bengal textile trade, during which merchants bought what they found on the local markets but did not yet modify the designs. The strict symmetrical organisation and decorative, flat scroll design of these colchas rather correspond to contemporary Bengalo-Islamic styles than to local Hindu styles. The designs of these prototype colchas derived from local Islamic tradition and provide an idea of what the production for the Bengal Sultan looked like. Colchas of the first phase display either a flat scroll design or hunting scenes in an undetermined space. As illustrated by an architecture fragment (today in the Victoria & Albert Museum) from the Bengal Adina Mosque from the second half of the fourteenth century in Pandua and surviving elements in the ruins, the flat vine treatment of spiralling vine scrolls on architectural decoration is very similar to the flower motifs on the early colchas. There are several of these prototypes in European collections. Two of them featuring vine scrolls are still housed in old collections and illustrate the appreciation of these pieces in early modern Europe: one of them is in the Palazzo Sforzesco in Milan and the other is in Skokloster castle in Sweden (compare to cat. nos. 5, 6);286 one other example featuring hunting scenes is in the Museum für angewandte Kunst Vienna (cat. no. 1).287 The second phase of colcha production illustrates the different stages of introduction and adaptation of the novel – European – motifs (such as cat. nos. 2, 7–11, 28). The integration of these new motifs proceeded slowly and had its clumsy moments but gradually improved. As soon as the Portuguese private merchants settled in Hugli around 1580, they had the possibility to supervise their commissions more closely. It is probable that around this time that they started to provide European models for the embroiderers most probably in the form of easily transportable prints. Books travelled on board ships for the entertainment of the passengers and served as basis for occasional theatre performances on board; merchants with more learning, such as Filippo Sassetti, travelled with small libraries. Apart from being assembled in books, prints were available as individual sheets on the art markets of early modern Europe.288 The stories chosen were largely from some of the most widely circulated books of the time: the Bible and the works of Ovid, especially his Metamorphoses. These bestselling books were often decorated with prints.289 285 Geijer, 1951, p. 75. 286 Geijer, 1951, pp.75, 120 and image 53. Most pieces in the collection of Skokloster castle date from the seventeenth century. 287 It was bought from the notorious nineteenth century textile collector Kanonikus Franz Bock, who travelled through Europe and took (cut out) samples, mostly from ecclesiastic collections. See: Borkopp-Restle, 2008. 288 Stalla (ed.), 2001. 289 See for example the work of the Flemish Wierix family: Mauquoi-Hendrickx, 1978.

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The third and last phase represents an assured style of balanced integration and combination of forms from different cultural backgrounds (such as cat. nos. 3, 4, 12-27, 29, 30). After the initial phase of slow integration of new forms the embroiderers succeeded in harmoniously combining the new elements with extant patterns and designs, thus reaching the stylistic apogee of colcha production. Examples of this phase are the colcha from Budapest (cat. no. 15), the Solomon (cat. no. 16–21) and Phaeton colchas (cat. no. 22, 23) and the red colchas (cat. no. 28-30). The latter mark the final phase of the Bengal production for the Portuguese.

THE GROUPS OF PRODUCTION

Three main stylistic groups integrate into the system of phases as they undergo the chronological development of integration of new forms and contents. The groups of Bengal colchas are characterised by a very similar basic layout and the use of the same techniques and materials, but the styles in which they were embroidered differ significantly. The first stylistic expression to be dealt with is more elegant and delicate and more balanced in execution than the others (such as cat. nos. 1–4). The apogee of this development is the pelican colcha from Boston (cat. no. 3) and the colcha roxa from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 4). They constitute a development deriving from prototypes that were embroidered with hunting scenes (cat. no. 1) – so often mentioned in the records. The second group, their most powerful expressions represented in the Solomon colchas, is more compact in style, and their overall aspect and iconography are more complex to decipher both visually and intellectually (such as cat. nos. 5–27). The surface of the textiles is densely covered, best described as horror vacui. The third group is somewhat set apart; the colchas are quite different from those of the other two Bengal groups. Its main characteristics feature a more pronounced use of colour and a different, more geometrical treatment of the decoration. Given the predominant use of backstitch, the drawing of the design is easier to discern. The basic layout at times resembles some frontispieces in contemporary Islamic album paintings. The red colchas most probably developed out of local Islamic tradition (such as cat. nos. 28, 29, 30). As for the third group in red and blue, only one colcha from the first, the pre-Portuguese phase survives.290 In some aspects the third group is culturally the most integrative. Whereas the European element becomes prevalent in the first two groups, the influence of local Bengal elements remains stronger, in the second phase of the third group. No exact line can be drawn either between the individual phases or between the individual groups; some colchas bear elements from two different groups, thus illustrating that the pieces were produced in the same region, if not in the same workshops. The step by step integration of what were exotic European features for the producers did not neces290 Geijer, 1951, pp. 73–75, 120, no. 121.

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sarily mean that the production of the local Bengalo-Islamic-style pieces stopped. As the EEIC records prove, Bengal colchas for the North Indian market continued to be produced as long as they sold well: unfortunately nothing is known of their appearance, which probably differed from the colchas for export to Europe. The style and contents of the colchas were adapted to the markets they were delivered to. As time passed more stability became evident in the iconographies of colchas for the Portuguese, which existed alongside unique solutions – mostly special commissions – and bore coats of arms, or showed a very specific iconographic programme. The First Group of fine Lines An extraordinarily elegant and delicate execution characterises the colchas of this group (such as cat. nos. 1–4). The figures are not fully stitched in chain stitch but in combination with backstitch. The finer stitches render the outlines of figures and plants more flexible and endow them a fragile corporality. The thin lines emphasise the contours of the figures, which are executed with a more vivacious use of detail than the earthly and robust figures of the Solomon colchas that are mostly fully embroidered in chain stitch. The basic composition of colchas in this group is complex. The layout was eventually simplified, making the textiles more easily accessible to the eye. The centre of the colchas of this group is always circular. The iconography develops from animals at the hunt stemming from the local Islamic tradition of the sultanate period in the first phase, to hunting scenes with European hunters in the second phase, and then on to the third phase with the integration of elaborate vine scrolls, narratives from antique mythology, Christian symbols and allegorical personifications of virtues. Hardly any biblical narratives feature in this group.

The Second Group of Compact Style The second group of Bengal colchas (cat. nos. 5–15) is probably the most complex and successful; most pieces survive, suggesting that more colchas in this style were produced than in others or that they were deemed special enough to preserve over time. The colchas of this group are characterised by a compact style of decoration owing to the predominance of chain stitch in their execution. Chain stitch does not allow the outlining the individual motifs as delicately as the backstitch in the first group. The compact style of the colchas is reminiscent of the aforementioned figurative decoration of the brick temples of Bengal. Both are characterised by lack of interest in the portrayal of depth and perspective in the individual representations. Most figures depicted are in three-quarter view and wear contemporary European costume. Every square centimetre of the textiles is filled with embroidery, which simultaneously provides for additional stability. In the first phase the colcha’s design consists of flat scroll pattern, similar to certain decorations in the Adina Mosque in Bengal, tamed by a symmetrical organisation system. Already in this first phase, which does not show European influences, the two main subgroups can be divided according to the way the basic organisation is structured: the main

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distinguishing factor is seen in the centre solution, which is either circular or angular. This distribution into circular and angular centre is the common theme in their development. The colchas with circular centre evolve in the following phases in close iconographic congruence to the colchas of the first, the elegant group of fine lines, and develop expressions that are generally more harmonious in symmetry than the subgroup with the angular centre. In a certain way, this compact subgroup with circular centre has affinity to the colchas of the elegant group. In some instances the same models were used in both groups, indicating that production was closely related. The compact-style colchas with the angular centre develop a more complex narrative pattern, evident in the Solomon and Phaeton colchas (cat. no.16–23). In addition to the two main sub-groups (circular and angular), there are several colchas that do not fit into either of the compact sub-groups. These textiles will be discussed separately (cat. no.10,11). The colchas of the first phase of this group are characterised by a repeating, flat spiralling vine-scroll pattern covering the entire surface within the symmetrically framing basic layout. The blue colcha of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 5) will be discussed as an example of embroideries of the first phase dominated by an angular centre; meanwhile the circular centre-plan type is represented by a colcha from the Bayerische Nationalmuseum in Munich (cat. no. 6).291 Both are significant for the further evolution of the colchas. The decoration and basic layout of these prototypes are very similar. The differences between them are seen in the quantity of outer borders, the form of the centre (circular and angular) and slight modifications in the spiralling vine scrolls. Their dating is facilitated by the survival of two examples in Swedish collections that provide clues for a placing them at least into the seventeenth century.292 It is quite certain that they were produced from a much earlier date, probably since the fifteenth century. In the second phase some European elements are placed in the basic layout and the flat spiralling vine scrolls. The new elements seem to be cut out of their models and awkwardly implanted onto something new. One of the first colchas showing the Judgement of King Solomon is part of this second phase. It is the only known representation of this scene in a circular centre (cat. no. 9). All other Solomon scenes are placed in angular centres. The iconographic programme of the third phase of the circular subgroup is often dominated by a personification or a courtly scene, such as the colcha from Budapest (cat. no. 15), whereas the layout of the subgroup with the angular centre is further subdivided iconographically into the Solomon and Phaeton colchas. The Solomon colchas represent the largest group of surviving colchas (cat. nos. 8, 9, 16–21). Their basic features, the Judgement of the biblical king, were introduced during the second phase and developed during 291 The other colchas of this specific group are in the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna, the Palazzo Sforzesco in Milan, a private collection in London and in the Skokloster castle in Sweden, see: Geijer, 1951, p. 120 and plate 53. 292 Geijer, 1951, p. 120, nos. 121, 122.

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the third phase.293 In addition, there are several colchas that were embroidered in a cruder way and more difficult to align to either group or phase. The values of the different Indian colchas listed in the inventories vary significantly from one another. The cheaper colchas were either old and therefore of lower value or they were of lesser quality. These colchas thus represented a less expensive branch of production. This study describes two pieces executed in a cruder manner (cat. no. 10, 11). In addition to these types, which are difficult to date, is the group illustrated with the myth of Phaeton and Jupiter in the centre. This group appears fully developed during the third phase.

Solomon Colchas The common feature of the Solomon colchas of the second and third phase is the central figure, the biblical King Solomon, who in this context signifies the concept of ideal rulership (cat. nos. 8, 9, 16–21). The Solomon colchas feature changing iconographic solutions and position the central figure each time in a slightly different context; the images surrounding the central king vary within the groups, permitting flexibility in the iconographic programme. Because the middle field generally remains very similar, the main distinguishing factor lies in the decoration of the borders, which show either mythological scenes, allegories or the zodiac with Roman gods as the seven planets; or they include representations of the four continents or the biblical story of Judith and additionally dedicate two entire borders to the narratives relating to the heroes of classical Antiquity Hercules and Arion. Mythological focus The colchas with the mythological border all show King Solomon, seated, in the centre (see cat. nos. 16–19). The centre solution follows either the scheme of the prototypes with the angular centre, a rectangle with circular indentations and extensions, or it consists of a free floating coat of arms or blazon structure, or is organised by an elaborate zigzag border.The four corners of the middle field display the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes in the Old Testament. The individual borders show hunting scenes, maritime scenes, scrolls, and narratives from Roman mythology. Colchas with this iconographic solution are the most abundant; also forming part of this group are colchas showing different qualities of execution. The quantity of the surviving textiles featuring the different mythological scenes – in fact there is not too much variation – gives us insight into the evolution of the form and the individual motifs. It continues the development started with the colcha of the Museu 293 Today these are kept in museums around the world: the Museu Nacional do Traje, the Museu do Oriente, the Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, the Museu Machado Castro in Coimbra, the Calico Museum in Ahmedabad, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, a private collection in London, the Museum of Malmö, the Kunstindustrimuseet in Copenhagen, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and one other in an unknown location (It was published in an article in 1948, but could not been traced to a museum and may be in a private collection in the USA. See: Estabrook Moeller, 1948, pp.119–132.

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Bengal Colchas

Nacional do Traje (cat. no. 9) in the adapting second phase, to its most assured expression in the third phase. The other groups seem to have developed out of this one by finding new solutions for the middle field and especially the borders. Zodiac Focus Some Solomon colchas include a zodiac border represented by Roman gods as the seven planets (such as no. 20). The Solomon scene is placed in a free floating coat of arms structure that is surrounded by elaborate vine scrolls and the scenes of Judith and Holofernes in the four corners of the middle field. The two known colchas with this solution are from the Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida and the Victoria & Albert Museum (cat. no. 20) and are of highest quality and very assured in style.

Four Continents, Hercules/Arion focus In two known Solomon colchas, the Judith and Holofernes scenes in the corner segments of the middle field are substituted with the allegorical personifications of the four continents (such as no. 21) – a feature that is all the more interesting because this iconography becomes very common in Europe during the second half of the sixteenth century as a result of the European expansion and the identification of the fourth continent – America.294 In addition to this, two borders in each textile are dedicated to the elaborate narratives of the lives of Arion and Hercules, developing similarly to a Brussels tapestry series en miniature. The two known examples are in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Victoria & Albert Museum (inv. no. 616–1886). Whereas the colcha of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 21) is of modest quality, the Victoria & Albert Museum piece is one of the best colchas known but its very faded embroidery makes an identification of distinct images difficult, not to mention photographing them. The iconography of these two colchas already shows elements of the colchas of the Phaeton group, namely the display of the lives of Hercules and Arion, illustrating the interconnection of the iconographic solutions. There are not only significant changes in the iconography of the three versions (mythological scenes, zodiac, Arion and Hercules) but there is also a change in the representation of King Solomon: in most colchas of the type with mythological scenes he is seated on a throne on a dais; in the colchas featuring the zodiac his throne is hidden by his clothes, with stairs leading up to the dais. In one colcha of the last version, including the continents, he is sitting on a throne at the top of stairs. This proves that different models (Solomon sitting on throne and Solomon at the top of stairs) were used for the depiction of this specific theme and occasionally fused, demonstrating yet again the closeness of the individual workshops.

294 Lach, vol. II, book, I, 1970, p. 192; Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia which prominently features different personifications was first published in an illustrated version in 1603.

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The Phaeton Colchas The Phaeton colchas of the third phase of the second group also feature an angular centre solution and have evolved structurally out of the Solomon colchas (such as cat. nos. 22, 23). The iconography of these colchas literally revolves around the antique myth of Phaeton. The literary model is Ovid’s Metamorphoses a work very well known in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In his famous epic Os Lusíadas, Luís de Camões (1524/5–1579), the poet of the Portuguese expansion, refers at least twice to the tragic story of this reckless youth.295 The centre of each of these textiles is illustrated with the destruction of Phaeton’s chariot by Jupiter’s lightning bolt and the youth’s death. The scenes of the narrative are placed around this tragic central image and fill the middle field, which is surrounded by several borders, two of which illustrate the stories of Hercules and Arion as in some Solomon colchas. While the division of the organisation of the middle field changed, the decoration of the borders did not change significantly. The basic organisation is slightly more complex than in the Solomon colchas. The three existing Phaeton colchas are stylistically close to the Solomon colchas and feature many scenes already depicted in the latter. Two are presented here (cat. nos. 22, 23; one from the Palácio Nacional de Sintra the other from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga); a third is in the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia in Rome.296

The Third Group: Red Colchas The last, larger group from Bengal consists of colchas that stand apart from the others (such as cat. nos. 28-30). In style, material, technique and content they are unmistakably Bengali. The embroidery mainly uses the colour combination of blue and red instead of mainly yellow. Apart from one piece, all surviving textiles include European elements. This one piece is from the Royal Swedish collection and was identified in the royal inventory from 1627, providing a reference point for the dating of this production.297 The second phase consists of no more than two known pieces, today in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 28) and in Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire.298 They are characterised by a more conspicuous use of different colours and a style that, during its second phase, shows a strong link to Bengal arts – the brick temples. The predominant use of backstitch enables the embroiderers to be more detailed in the decoration. Especially in the second phase, the decoration of the colchas is so dense that it is hard to distinguish the individual motifs, the figures almost disappear in the structure. There is a marked stylistic break between the second and what is considered here the third phase of this group. The main difference is that the colchas of the first phase are very 295 296 297 298

Camões, 2006, Canto I, 96, and Canto IX, 43. Inv. 10765, donation of Marchese Giovanni Incisa della Rocchetta, 1969. GEIJER, 1951, pp. 73-75, 120, no. 121. Crill, 2004; Crill, 2006, pp. 245–262.

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densely stitched and indebted to local models. The colchas of the third phase in turn show less decoration and prevalently European designs, solely their technique and basic organisation remain similar. The colchas of the third phase use the colours red and yellow. Apart from the basic organisation and use of stitches, the main unifying element of both phases is the colour red, hence the name. The colchas of the third phase represent a later development and were probably only made after stronger competition arose from the Dutch and British as a response to changing tastes around the middle of the seventeenth century. The complex narratives of other Bengal colchas celebrating the Portuguese and their rulers probably went out of fashion once a more stable situation emerged after the end of the Thirty Years War. During the second half of the seventeenth century new models had to be adapted and designs invented for the Norhtern European markets. While production for Europe of these types of embroidery seems to have decreased, local folk art production was most inspired by this group, since their designs and techniques are close to later kantha embroidery production of Bengal. Kanthas are embroidered quilts produced in domestic contexts.299

ICONOGRAPHY OF BENGAL COLCHAS

The iconography of Bengal colchas is the most complex as yet known of all Portuguese art commissioned in Asia and probably also in the Americas. To the author’s knowledge, no exactly comparable iconographic composition to that of the Solomon colchas survives in European art. Many of the textiles convey multi-layered political and religious messages that are ambiguous and difficult to decipher. Characteristic for the time, they often mix secular and sacred elements. Each individual group develops its own solutions and has to be read differently and contextualised accordingly. In most cases the colchas’ programmes do not connote one single reading, they rather communicate through symbols and allusions, leaving space for multi-layered interpretations, a characteristic for the period in which the programme was conceived.300 There are strong parallels in topics fancied by the Portuguese and Spanish kings (ruling over Portugal during the period in question) such as the stories of Hercules and Solomon, but these were common topics of rulership and the combination on the colchas is unique.301 The iconography of Bengal colchas is not concrete and hinders precise conclusions about the colchas’ programme. The small Portuguese merchant society of Bengal, who controlled a significant part of maritime export trade of Bengal, was very diplomatic in the 299 Gopen, 1989, Mason, 2010. Rosemary Crill, Lotika Varadarajan and Susana Pedroso have hinted at the similarities between kanthas and colchas. See: Pedroso, 2003, pp. 13, 60-65. 300 Bull, 2005, pp. 86–140; for Portugal: Lisbon, 2001. 301 Compare in the catalogue: Jornadas de arte (ed.) 1999, story deeds of Hercules pp. 102-105; five senses pp. 108–110, Solomon p. 121.

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choice of motifs and careful not to disregard someone’s religious concepts; their choices render the colchas acceptable to Catholics and New Christians as well as to Muslims or even Hindu viewers. Motifs such as hunting scenes, different types of vine scrolls, hybrid animals, kings, Christian symbols, courtly scenes were understood by viewers from various backgrounds in different ways. In general, their content is more secular than religious. Their openness to interpretation makes the colchas all the more fascinating. As a result the different groups of colchas of Bengal were marketable to clients from different cultural backgrounds. The complexity of the colcha’s iconography raises the question as to what were local Bengal elements and what was added by the European commissioners. In view of the surviving colchas the Portuguese initially bought (first phase of production), they seem to have preferred the Bengalo-Islamic textiles linked to the production of the sultanate court and the textiles produced in Bengal for trade with consumers in the Muslim world. The reason for this was possibly that much Hindu art was difficult to digest for Europeans.302 Bengalo-Islamic art production of the Sultanate of Bengal had undergone a stylistic fusion with local Hindu art similar to what had happened at the courts in Gujarat and Delhi, where Iranian forms and contents had also been mixed with local expressions of the arts. This style is reflected in the prototype colchas of the first phase featuring flat-spiralling vine scroll designs or lively hunting scenes divided into a strict geometric framework. Most iconographic elements on the colchas are of European inspiration. Local Hindu influence in Bengal colchas produced for the Portuguese is largely limited to stylistic elements and decorative details such as the heavily delineated and robust figures, figures on mounts, scrollwork, monsters and some hybrid figures, mostly in the borders. The most successful ancient Buddhist or rather Hindu Indian motif as seen on Bengal colchas is the snake-eating peacock, showing up in the middle field of many textiles and giving them an apotropaic element. An important influence came from Indian art production for Muslim courts in Bengal and later the Mughal court. The former is most visible in colchas of the first phase, which show no European features, and especially on the red Bengal colchas (represented by cat. no. 28). In addition, many individual scenes on Bengal colchas recall scenes depicted in Mughal album paintings, such as hunting scenes and occasionally mythological figures of Iranian origin (for example cat. no. 28). In addition to the motifs, certain concepts are expressed similarly on the colchas and in Indo Islamic art production, for instance the concept of rulership and paradise. Contrary to what was stated in earlier articles, according to the author’s findings there are no evidently Hindu elements that can be securely and coherently interpreted in the context of the religious Vaishnavist movement.303 This was a syncretistic religious move302 Mitter, 1992. 303 This was suggested by Irwin/Hall, 1973; and other articles: Irwin, 1952; for Vaishnavism see: Bhandarkar, 1965; and: Zimmer, 1998.

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ment centring on devotion (bhakti) to Krishna and was widely spread in East India during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The mystical bhakti piety was close to certain currents of Muslim Sufism.304 It had great influence on the arts and culture of Bengal of that period. There are close similarities between Bengal sultanate and Hindu architecture and its decoration.305 Bengal brick temples, where production was closely linked to the Vaishnavist renaissance and which show certain stylistic parallels to colchas, were mainly constructed in what is today Southwest Bengal and in southern Bangladesh. There was an important nucleus of temples in Vishnupur quite near Hugli.306 Because of their closeness some reciprocal influence between temples and colchas is theoretically possible; many temples also show European figures. Robust figures with striped clothing in relief are engaged in hunting and courtly activities on colchas, as well as temples. These temples also include narratives from the great Indian epics and Hindu mythology placed next to scenes from daily life.307 A similar concept of juxtaposing religious and secular is also characteristic of the colchas where King Solomon is integrated into a programme including antique gods, hunters, sailors and fishermen. These components illustrate important affinities between the two artistic productions, temples and colchas, and show an interesting parallel. However, one has to keep in mind that even without brick temple sculpture as possible stylistic models, transferring the engraved models of European prints into chain stitch embroidery the figures depicted automatically become more robust and ponderous, because of the change of material and technique. Another local Bengal production comparable especially to the colchas of the red group are the kantha embroideries (quilts embroidered mostly in running stitch), which are still made today.308 Given the lack of surviving pieces from before the nineteenth century, it is not clear whether the specific kanthas emerged out of the colcha production or whether this kind of embroidery production had already existed in the sixteenth century. It is certain and logical that some kind of quilt production largely for local domestic use existed in Bengal during the sixteenth century and before, but it is unknown how these were decorated. Should the designs have developed out of the colcha production for the international market, the most probable group to have inspired them is the red group of the Bengal colchas. Both are embroidered textiles of roughly the same rectangular form, have a similar albeit simpler basic layout, and use similar materials and techniques. Kanthas are made of several layers of fabric that are stitched together, and are used as in the local domestic context. The depicted scenes represent various moments from daily life and include some European 304 305 306 307 308

Schimmel, 2000, p. 131. McCutchion, 1967; Michell (ed.), 1983; Ghosh, 2005. Ghosh, 2005. Ghosh, 2005. Mason (ed.), 2009.

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elements. Unlike the commercially produced colchas they were usually made by Bengali women often for family use. In general they are far less elaborately embroidered than the colchas and feature less variety in technique; their iconographies are much simpler too. Some intercultural themes, especially hunting scenes, were very popular in the arts of Europe and Aisa and did not have to be reinvented in India. Rather, local forms were adapted to the taste of the Iberian consumers and combined with European motifs, for instance hunters were given muskets and European costume, as seen on the prints provided. A few models for the colchas derived also from countries of the Iranian world well known in sultanate Bengal, such as the popular motif of a fantastic bird, the simurgh, which is depicted on furniture for the local and foreign market, on ivories and on a few colchas (cat. no. 28).309 Other popular motifs of the Portuguese colonial arts in Asia such as the pelican, mermaids and Hercules were portrayed on various objects of different nature too, for instance on pieces of furniture. The pelican, one of the most frequent and successful motifs in the arts of Portuguese Asia, a symbol linked to the Avis dynasty as well as to missionary activities in this context, is not only depicted on the colchas but also for instance on a wooden tray from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and it was cast in silver for a Goan church.310 Mermaids are seen in the colchas and as decorative cabinet legs in Goan furniture.311 Hercules is depicted on lacquer boxes and on the colchas.312 The gradual integration of European motifs into the decoration of the colchas in Bengalo-Islamic style raises the question concerning which were the earliest models provided and what were their sources. Since the mid-fifteenth century the increased circulation of prints in Europe had deeply influenced the arts. One finds objects of different materials and from different parts of Europe that used the same printed model for their decoration. Prints also travelled along the sea routes to the newly explored territories in America, Africa and Asia and had a significant impact on Mughal art in North India. The Jesuit mission of 1580 led by Rudolfo Aquaviva to the court of the Great Mughal Akbar presented the emperor an edition of Plantin’s Polyglott Bible.313 Printed books as well as loose prints from Europe, both easy to transport, were shipped to Goa and from there travelled further, not only with the missionaries but also with travellers and merchants, especially with those who had to provide the models to inspire local craftsmen, as was the case in Bengal. Books were not only imported from Europe, in 1556 a printing press was established in Goa itself.314 However, mainly religious book were published here; only in exceptional cases were books such as Garcia da Orta’s Coloquios dos simples, e drogas he cousas medicinais da India (1563) printed. 309 310 311 312 313 314

See added leaflets of exhibition: London, 1978. Today this silver pelican is in the Museu de Arte Sacra in Old Goa. Ferrão, vol. 3, 1990. Moura Carvalho, 2001. Du Jarric, 1926; Koch, 1988; Koch 2001. Priolkar, 1960, pp. 629–630.

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The earliest and most successful European motifs introduced into Bengal colcha design were the biblical themes of the Justice of Solomon and the story of Judith, also a selection of Ovidian love stories. In addition, symbols for Christ or dynasties relevant for their cultural context such as the pelican (standing for the Avis dynasty) and the double headed eagle (standing for the Habsburgs). On one Phaeton colcha (cat. no. 22) Ovid’s Fasti are explicitly quoted. Emblem books, books of natural history, embroidery pattern books and astrological books were other possible sources of inspiration.315 The workshops of Bernard Salomon and Virgil Solis are merely the most famous to publish lavishly illustrated versions of the Bible and the Metamorphoses of Ovid in the sixteenth century. Bernard Salomon’s Metamorphoses contains several images very similar to motifs used on the colchas, for instance the scene of Pyramus and Thisbe when Thisbe commits suicide with Pyramus’ sword. Next to her is a fountain and in the background the lion. Another scene in this book that may have inspired the embroiderers was Orpheus singing to the beasts, with the mythical singer under a tree and surrounded by animals. Yet another example from the same book is the fall of Phaeton, comparable to the Phaeton colchas.316 Because of the adaptations made by the Bengal embroiderers, the exact models are hard to determine with certainty. A rare case is the colcha in the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, the exact model of which was a festive arch of the printed version of the solemn entry of King Philip II of Spain into Lisbon (cat. no. 25).317 The books did not only serve as models for the narratives but could also provide inspiration for the borders and vine scrolls. In Virgil Solis’s Metamorphoses for example all depicted mythological scenes are framed by different broad decorative borders. These show grotesque elements used similarly in the colchas, such as maritime scenes with mermaids and sea monsters and vine scrolls ending in dragon-heads and masks. Additionally, there are several other non-European sources of inspiration, especially for the vine scrolls on the colchas complementing the European models: contemporary Mughal Indian and Safavid designs on carpets, in books or on objects of decorative arts and, of course, Chinese porcelain traded by the Portuguese to Bengal. The blue and white Ming porcelain very frequently depicts delicate scrolls comparable to those on colchas.318 Mughal-Indian carpet production located at Fathepur Sikri until 1685 also features comparable designs, especially in the fantastic animal patterns and grotesque elements in the borders.319 As for the motif of the ships with sea monsters in the maritime borders of the colchas, a possible model can be seen in maps, often illustrated with such motifs and circulated widely along the Portuguese-dominated sea routes. Prints illustrating natural history books are

315 See for instance: Henkel/Schöne, 1996, pp. 795 (phoenix), 811, 812 (pelican), 1591 (Pyramus and Thisbe), 1608 (Arion), 1615 (Phaeton), 1644–1646 (Hercules), 1677 (Paris). 316 Salomon, 1559. For Pyramus and Thisbe fl. 51, Phaeton fl. 22, Orpheus fl. 123. 317 Lavanha, 1622. 318 Carswell, 2000. 319 Walker, 1997, p. 33–37. See carpet of the MAK-Museum für angewandte Kunst/Vienna: Or 292.

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other possible sources, such as Historiae Animalium of 1587, by the famous natural scientist Conrad Gesner, which shows whales attacking ships.320 A book like this may have served an interested passenger on board a ship to undertake observations of nature while travelling. India’s natural wonders intrigued learned European circles; Filippo Sassetti for instance writes elaborately about his observations of nature made during the long trip from Portugal to India and he even carried books and scientific instruments with him to Cochin.321 These options illustrate that the books serving as models for colchas were as varied as the interests of the people that took them to India. Missionaries probably preferred religious books, above all the Bible, in order to persuade local potentates and their people of the true faith. Educated merchants travelled, depending on their personal interests, with maps and books that were popular in Europe, such as the works of antique Latin authors, above all Ovid, and works of natural history. The iconographic programme of the colchas was an original combination of these different sources and mirrors the interests and openness to adaptation of the heterogeneous colonial society. However, there is also a strong political flavour inherent in the programme. The closest parallels to the iconography of the colchas are found in contemporary political programmes of the kings of Spain and Portugal, especially in the entries into Lisbon by the Spanish kings in 1581 and 1619.322 These rare political events were of crucial importance to Portugal. On both occasions the streets of the city were sumptuously decorated and triumphal arches were erected featuring complex iconographic programmes. They proved fundamentally important in the political arts for the sixty years of Spanish rule, and similar themes continued to be employed after Portuguese independence in 1640.323 The iconographies used on these occasions reached India as well. For instance the book illustrating the 1619 entry to Lisbon by Philip III arrived in Bengal probably very soon after its publication in 1622.324 This becomes clear when comparing one of its prints with the Bengal colcha of the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum (cat. no. 25), which will be discussed in detail. Unfortunately hardly any images of the arches of the first Spanish royal entry to Lisbon in 1581 have survived but descriptions have and, given the importance of the event, probably travelled as far as Bengal too.325 The programme of both entries celebrates Portugal and its overseas expansion the Avis dynasty and the Habsburgs, their heirs, and their righteous rule not only over their Iberian realms but over the entire world in complex iconographies. There are striking parallels between the programmes of these entries and the later colchas featuring Solomon and Phaeton. 320 Gesner, K., Historiae Animalium, Tiguri: in off. Froschtoviana, livro IV, p. 119 (Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, S.A. 2010//2A), quoted from: Borschberg, 2004, pp. 3–25. 321 Bramanti, 1970. 322 In this context see especially the work of Bouza Álvarez, 1989, 2000; Lisbon, 2001. 323 Bouza Álvarez, 1989, p. 42. 324 Lavanha, 1622. 325 Bouza Álvarez, 1989, pp. 20, 21; Cardim, 2009, 195–196.

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According to the description by Affonso Guerreiro, the 1581 entry of King Philip II of Spain included images in different positions that are also central to Bengal colchas, such as the personification of Justice (Chapter V), the double headed eagle standing for the Holy Roman Empire on the arch of the Germans (Chapter VI) and again seen on the arch of the Germans in 1619; on a panel the four continents – referring to the extension of the Habsburg dominions – and Fortuna (Chapter VII and again in chapter XI) and on another Hercules with the lion and the Hydra, related to Emperor Charles V (Chapter VIII). Yet another panel included a zodiac (Chapter IX). References were made to Philip II as lawful heir of the Portuguese crown and defender of the faith. He was celebrated as successor of the ancient emperors and as unifier of the the world and master of Orient and Occident (Chapter XIII).326 Not only festive entries promoted such complex contents. The discussion of the Diálogo llamado Philippino – written by Lorenzo de San Pedro with the intention of stressing the legality of the succession to the Portuguese throne by Philip II – in an article by Fernando Bouza Alvarez, directs spotlights that are significant on some topics used in the relevant propaganda of Philip II and that are again seen in the programme of the mature Bengal colchas. In it the four continents show up again among several hieroglyphic and emblematic compositions, as does Hercules as defensor fidei, Justice, the Zodiac as a reference to the devise that in Philip’s empire the sun would not set – comparable to the four continents, the fight between eagle and snake or dragon, and a heart in flames standing for the love of the king for the Portuguese people.327 Festive entries also took place on a smaller scale in India and illustrate that topics similar to those of the royal entries to Lisbon did arrive in Portuguese India. The following is a telling example as it includes allegorical and mythological content visible on the Bengal colchas. Viceroy D. Jeronimo de Azevedo (r.1612-1617) was largely in charge of expanding Portuguese power in Ceylon. On one occasion he was received festively on the island’s monastery of São Paulo. In the church twenty five Ceylonese Christians pulled a chariot showing allegories surrounding the Gloria Portuguesa. After laudatory speeches tableaux vivants were displayed. One showed the four continents, another the Roman gods Mars and Neptune holding the viceroys former fortress and declaring him commander over land and sea. Other tableaux included the personifications of Constance and Generosity, or celebrated his military triumphs, for instance with Fame, Arion and Orpheus; yet others illustrated him as good, truthful, honourable and faithful governor. Local children were dressed as angels of glory. The viceroy was touched to tears when he saw the figure of his late brother who had died as Jesuit martyr. Thereafter a Mass was celebrated in Latin which the locals did not understand but that – according to the Portuguese account – touched them deeply.328 326 Guerreiro, 1581. 327 Bouza Álvarez, 1989, pp. 20–58. 328 IAN/TT, Cartório Jesuítico, Maço 68, Doc. 50, fols. 1,2. Quoted from Pinto, 2008, pp. 253–254.

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From these parallels it becomes clear that the colchas issued from a similar mindset, centring on Portuguese-Spanish dominance over Asia, or even the entire cosmos – not an unusual claim at that time. The underlying problematic of succession to the Avis dynasty is evident and – depending on the viewpoint – the rightful or unrightful rule of the Habsburgs over Portugal and its overseas possessions; Portugal eventually seceeded from Spain in 1640. A unique colcha explicitly narrating this event provides an additional, strong argument for the reading of the colchas’ iconographies in this political context and will be discussed in the catalogue (see cat. no. 25).329 Unfortunately, relevant inscriptions or exactly identifieable coats of arms are mostly missing that would provide concrete clues as to whether the Solomon and Phaeton colchas have to be read in a pre- or post- succession context, and stress the ambiguity of their programme. Certain symbols provide indicators to dating a colcha to before or after 1640. For instance, the presence of a double-headed eagle suggests a dating to before 1640, as it can be linked to the Habsburgs. But the omission of the same does not necessarily mean that a colcha was produced after 1640. Given that both Habsburgs and Bragança viewed themselves as rightful heirs to the crown, the pelican – interpreted as standing for the Avis dynasty - could be used by both parties in order to strengthen their links to the formerly ruling dynasty. The somewhat surprising continuity of the pictorial vocabulary under Habsburgs and Bragança was pointed out by Pedro Cardim in an article focussing on the programme of the exequies of the Portugues King D. João IV in 1656, sixteen years after seccession from Spain (again parallels to the programme of the colchas appear). This illustrates that by using a very similar visual language the new dynasty attempted to convey a sense of continuity and unity to its people.330 For the Bengal colchas featuring complex iconographies this means that they can often be placed in both contexts. The themes employed in the different entries have to be kept in mind once the discussion of the individual colchas begins. The Bengal colchas find a peculiar way of shifting the focus away from one or the other Spanish king to a more idealised ruler personified in one group by the biblical King Solomon and in another to Jupiter, thus generalising the concept of rule over India in particular and – depending on the focus on the colcha – the world in general. The iconographic parallels strengthen the impression that the colchas featuring a complex iconographic programme are part of propagandistic currents that were especially relevant in the decennies leading to Portuguese secession in 1640 and during the twenty years after that, during which the power of the new dynasty was consolidated. Such claims to universal power did not lose momentum until 1666, when Bragança rule was assured after the important French ally had finally acknowledged the independence of the King of Portugal. It is therefore roughly into the time period between 1600 and 1666 that the Solomon and Phaeton colchas featuring complex programmes should be dated. 329 Santos, 1970, pp. 204–209. 330 Cardim, 2009, pp. 195–197.

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One interesting element in the iconography of Bengal colchas is the absence of the central figure of Christianity; Christ never appears in human form but only in personifications such as the pelican or the eagle, both symbols that were also related to Portuguese dynasties.331 No colcha is known that includes a crucifixion scene, one of the central topics of Catholic art at a time when early European Baroque art was engulfed by the sufferings of saints propagated by the Counter-Reformation. The reason was probably that this was a problematic topic in India.332 Christ is represented on the colchas by proxy as pelican feeding his brood, as phoenix rising from the ashes or as eagle, which might reveal the assimilative approach of many of the Catholic missions in India. At the same time however, and intensifying a probably intended ambiguous reading, symbolically charged birds are symbols of royal dominance, claiming secular as well as sacred justification. A different solution to the problematic of Christ was found in another media, ivory; one of the most successful representations of Christ were the carved bons pastores (the Good Shepherd).333 By coding Catholic messages that were too explicit and to many Indians probably offensive (how would a Jain react to an almost nude bleeding man tortured on the cross?), the textiles became acceptable to a larger audience but were still understood by those familiar with Christian symbols and their contents. From the very beginning, the development of the iconographic programme of the colchas was not static but in constant change. Taking a closer look at the colchas it becomes evident that the individual scenes were invented by European artists in Europe. The great feat of the Portuguese commissioners was not to find new forms but to reassemble known forms into a coherent and successful programme that met their political aims and the consumer’s tastes. Given the elasticity of the programmes’ powers of invention it is not certain whether the main elements were decided by the merchants who resided in Bengal or those who sent but the models to Bengal. Agents and interpreters then passed this often complex programme on to the Bengal embroiderers who, depending on the colchas, added more or less visible local elements and combined the new models with their pre-existing pool of designs in the workshops. This process of inventing the form, assembling the programme and executing it shows how combined efforts turned the colchas into truly intercultural artworks.

331 Kretschmer, 2011, pp. 20-23, 316. 332 Sanjay Subrahmanyam has drawn attention on the problematic of the reception of Catholicism and of the depiction of Christ in the Mughal context: Subrahmanyam, 2010, pp. 39–83 333 Amiot-Guigaz, 2007, Pinto, 2015.

Colchas from Gujarat

Gujarat served not only as India’s most important window to sea trade, it was also India’s maritime gateway to the northern parts of the subcontinent. Because of its position it has been a region of passage for different people and artistic forms; as in Bengal, the craftsmen quickly adapted to the demands of the different Asian and later European markets. An imperial farman granted by the Mughal Emperor regulated the Portuguese traders’ activities. The decisions of both local Mughal officials and the Estado influenced Portuguese activities in Gujarat more than those of their compatriots in less accessible Bengal. As in Bengal, they formed just one of many groups of foreign and local merchants, and had to play by the rules if they wanted to trade successfully. Thanks to its favourable position Gujarat was more easily accessible for Portuguese merchants, who thus exported much more from there than from Bengal. Probably for this reason colchas from Gujarat were mostly cheaper than colchas from Bengal in contemporary documents. In addition to textiles of all kinds, Gujarat kept the Estado da Índia and Europe supplied with art objects of all kinds, for instance pieces of furntiture such as mother-of-pearl overlaid objects,334 as well as with food, drugs and raw materials including wood and indigo. Of all goods exported by the Portuguese from Gujarat, textiles of different qualities constituted the province’s largest finished export commodities to Europe. While Boyajian claims that about one hundred wooden writing desks from Gujarat reached Lisbon per year during the peak period between 1580 and 1640, about 800,000 pieces of Asian cloth reached Lisbon per year during the same period. Most of these textiles came from highly productive Gujarat, whose market was easily accessible to the private merchants.335 The more diversified nature of Gujarati embroidery production may be the reason why many colchas of uncertain origin were attributed to the province. The descriptions of the individual colchas in the contemporary inventories do not always help to localise the production of the specific groups since they usually over-generalise. The documents discussed before confirm that the most probable production centre of Gujarati colchas was the core region of the former sultanate in and around the capital Ahmedabad. To some extent certain colchas for Portuguese export may have been produced in the port towns of Cambay and Surat, both important cities and emporia for the overseas trade of the Indian Subcontinent during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In addition, a small local production centre seems to have evolved in Chaul, which had a considerable silk textile production 334 Digby, 1985, pp. 213–222. 335 Boyiajian, 1993, p. 49 and p. 130.

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and was an notable importer of raw silk from China.336 Sindh, further to the north, was also mentioned in some sources but was mainly known for leather production. Diu was also mentioned and did have some textile production but it is improbable that it served as a major centre of production for high-quality export embroideries; rather, it was an entrepôt and tax collecting point for goods traded to and from Gujarat.337 As stressed before, colchas from Gujarat differ from the Bengal colchas mainly in colour, style, and, depending on the groups, also in material, techniques and motifs. Some important motifs were similar, such as the hunting scenes, pelicans, eagles or lions. Generally, the iconographic programme of the Gujarati colchas is far less complex. Usually, only one motif was chosen to emphasise the centre, such as a pelican, an eagle, or a scene from Roman mythology. The later colchas almost exclusively bear floral designs. Colcha production in Gujarat was more varied and heterogeneous than the quite coherent Bengali group, suggesting different places of production within the region, different qualities, but also more varied export markets of Gujarati arts and crafts in general. The colchas chosen here constitute coherent groups that show a visible stylistic development and are comparable to a specific Indian textile production of that time, namely the production for the Mughal court. Besides, there are also certain similarities in motifs to local Islamic art production featuring dense floral designs; among the most famous examples are the stone carved windows of the Sidi Saiyyed mosque in Ahmedabad from the early 1570s.

DIVISION INTO GROUPS

The Gujarati colchas chosen for this study can be divided into three main groups.338 The influence of European style vocabulary and themes is evident in all the textiles. Because of this, a division into three phases – quite clearly distinguishable in the Bengal production – is more difficult to establish here. Rather than sorting the works into three different phases, they will be discussed in terms of their stage of development. By looking at sultanate architrctural decoration, surviving manuscripts Gujarati and the embroidery production for the Mughal court one can get a faint idea of what the production prior to the arrival of the Portuguese may have looked like.339 The predominant motifs of Gujarati colcha production were floral designs that in concept predated the arrival of the Europeans. Carpets and colchas displaying floral designs prolonged the presence of flourishing plants that were subject to the seasons, thus enhancing the viewer’s pleasure by extending the 336 Burnell/Tiele, 1935, vol. I, p. 63, 64; Dias, 1998, p. 336. 337 Antunes Dias, 1999, pp. 149–160. 338 For this study only colchas were chosen that could be inserted into the context of a group. Several pieces exist in museums that do not fit into the groups and still await closer study. 339 Crill, 1999, pp. 40–45.

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garden into the palaces, providing the user with a more durable garden – a topos in Persian literature. The sixteenth century witnessed an increase in interest in botany and the development of gardens in Europe and India, also thanks to the passion of the Mughal emperors; this was shared among others by the Safavid rulers of Iran, as is seen in art production of the time. By the middle of the sixteenth century the first botanical gardens, which also served as research laboratories, were set up in Italy,340 and by the end of the century illustrated books on botany circulated in the relevant layers of society in Europe and were also exported to India. Robert Skelton has shown that during the reign of Jahangir, Shah Jahan’s father, Mughal artists started painting naturalistic pictures of flowers in Kashmir, the summer residence of the emperor. In his memoirs, Jahangir wrote: “Kashmir is a perennial garden and an ironclad bastion [...] it is a garden that delights the eye [...] As far as the eye can see there is greenery and running water. Red roses, violets and narcissi grow wild; there are fields after fields of all kinds of flowers; [...] During the enchanting spring, mountain and plain are filled with all sorts of blossoms; gateways, walls, courtyards, and roofs of houses come ablaze with tulips. [...] The flowers

seen in summer pastures of Kashmir are beyond enumeration. Those drawn by Master Nadirul´asri Mansur the painter number more than a hundred”341

Taking these real flowers as examples, the Mughal artists soon invented artistic flowers combining real and imagined elements. Inspiration for this derived also from European herbals then in circulation at the Mughal court.342 A similar phenomenon becomes evident in the colchas where many floral arrangements are their embroiderers’ fantastical creations, for instance of diverse flowers growing on the same bush, forming a fictional plant of unreal beauty, surrounded by exotic birds to accentuate the paradisiacal allusions. The European commissioners were most probably aware of this paradisiacal meaning. With regular embassies at the Mughal court, they were well informed of its goings-on. Moreover, European depictions and concepts of paradise were similar; the idea of paradise as an enclosed garden was eminent throughout the Middle Ages.343 Moreover, mille fleur tapestries were much appreciated in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The parallels between the art of the Mughal court and many of the colchas from Gujarat are striking and serve to illustrate how closely linked the networks of the Indian Subcontinent were and how fast new forms were adapted and combined. A similar measured 340 341 342 343

Ogilvie, 2006. See: Thackston, (ed.), 1999, pp. 332. Skelton, 1972, pp. 147–152. Scafi, 2006.

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harmony and balance inherent in Mughal architecture can also be found in these textiles. The impression of organic growth dominating these textiles is also a characteristic of Shah Jahani architecture.344 Based on this closeness in style and form it is possible that the same or related Gujarati workshops worked for the Mughal Emperors and for the European commissioners, adapting the forms according to the demands of the client.345 It is often difficult to discern which market the specific colcha was intended for; their European mythological content does not necessarily exclude the Mughal luxury market that was constantly thirsting for novelties, just as the European market was.

Phoenix Pineapple Group The first group of Gujarati colchas is characterized by their regularly quilted cotton foundation and the predominance of two motifs that feature in most colchas – but not in all: the phoenix and the pineapple (such as nos. 31–32). A regularly quilted grid pattern in backstitch stabilises the layered fabrics. The main stitch used in this group of colchas is backstitch. The group is difficult to date, as none of them survives in an old inventoried collection.346 Considering their rather simplistic style and symbolic content and compared to the maturity of other colchas it is probable that types of these colchas were among the least expensive pieces for export. The colchas of this group are less sophisticated than most other Gujarati colchas, leaving large blank spaces (which are merely quilted) between the decorative elements. Many colchas feature the phoenix as a symbol of resurrection of Christ or renewal in the centre, which indicates Portuguese influence.347 In the Portuguese Asian context the bird could be an interpretation for dynastic renewal, a topic relevant around 1640 in the context of the Portuguese restoration, hence the dating of these specific colchas to the first half of the seventeenth century. Winged mythological beings were not unknown to Muslim and Hindu viewers, for instance the mythical Indian Garuda, the gaja-simha or the Iranian simurgh, and probably also inspired the embroiderers. In terms of basic organisation, the pineapple/phoenix colchas do not differ much from other Gujarati groups for export: one broad border surrounds the middle field, which for the most pieces is accentuated by a central circle. Somehow surprisingly, Gujarati embroideries for the Mughal Indian market, most probably produced in the court workshops of Ahmedabad, can be best compared to this group. One example for Mughal production is a red tent-hanging in the Victoria & Albert Museum, another is a prayer rug with seven fields from the Topkapi Saray Museum collection in Istanbul that probably derives from Ottoman trade contacts with Mughal India or from booty taken from Delhi by Nadir Shah, a portion 344 Koch, 2006. 345 As pointed out by Varadarajan, 1999, pp.341. 346 The colchas of this group are in the following collections: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 2136; Art Institute of Chicago, Inv. 1948.159; Museu Nacional Soares os Reis, Porto, Inv. 1601, Museu Municipal de Setúbal, Inv. 2598 and a private collection in Porto. 347 Kretschmer, 2011, pp. 327–328.

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of which is now housed at the palace in Istanbul as well.348 Like the colchas, these Mughal embroideries are densely quilted and feature sparse decoration in some parts; Mughal embroideries mainly employ chain stitch for the delicate floral decoration, and not backstitch as do the colchas; they are also much more elaborate than these colchas. They were possibly a cheaper version of the Mughal products. Given this closeness, a minor workshop in or around Ahmedabad is a probable place of production of these embroideries; Chaul also remains an option.

Floral/Figurative Colchas The second group of Gujarati colchas commissioned by the Portuguese – the largest in existence and thus supposedly the most successful – is characterised by the predominance of a dense floral pattern. The strictly symmetrical basic layout of the colchas of this group and their floral theme have an interesting parallel in sixteenth century Safavid medallion and vine scroll carpets: a circular centre in the large rectangular middle field with emphasised corner solutions is enclosed by a border. In style, however, they are different. Placed at the centre and border of each of these colchas are diverse figurative motifs embedded into the floral designs (such as cat. nos. 33–37). A stylistically comparable production of colchas existed parallel to this, with non-figurative vine scrolls sprouting various flowers and stitched over the entire composition (see nos. 38-40).349 The parallel of the earliest surviving colchas of this large group to French embroidery and Savonnerie carpet production of around 1630 is striking indeed; it is therefore plausible to date these to the first half of the seventeenth century.350 The colchas from Gujarat probably served as one of the models for this production or they used the same models. Various artistic influences meet in the designs of Gujarati textile production for the Portuguese: Sultanate and Mughal Indian features, Safavid and European elements, and finally Chinese features. The floral colchas are an important result of this complex net of cross influences, their allure lies in the well-measured, harmonic interweaving of these influences by the embroiderers. The two main expressions of this elaborate group that infuse the occupied space with a sense of an otherworldly paradise (figurative/floral and almost exclusively floral) existed roughly at the same time, but the latter was more successful later on: the first, with its distinct and easily readable figurative programmes and elaborate style, is stylistically more 348 The textile from the Topkapi Saray Museum remains unpublished, for the hanging in the Victoria & Albert Museum see: Crill, 1999, p. 42. 349 Some examples of colchas of this group: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 3704, Museu Nacional do Traje, Inv. 14407, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 1593, Museu da Guerra Junqueiro (Porto), Inv. 612, Fundação da Casa de Bragança, Vila Viçosa, Inv. 2560, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 837, Musée de la Mode et du Textile, Paris, Inv. 18 652, Casa Museu Castro Guimarães: Inv. 1904, Art Institute of Chicago, Inv. 1982.18. 350 Verlet, 1982, pp. 27–40, 173; Bérinstain/Day/Floret, 1997, pp. 229–231.

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closely related to the textile production for the Mughal court of that time. Most colchas feature a background with a strong colour. The imagery of the figurative-floral group focuses on different topics of which the five senses and mythological birds (often similar to the phoenix/pineapple group) were the most popular (such as cat. nos. 33–35). Long-tailed birds, such as the peacock or the bird of paradise, were considered very exotic by Europeans of that time.351 The birds, probably also inspired by Chinese models, are almost always placed symmetrically in the middle field, above and beyond the central circle. A thematic parallel to the birds can be seen in Mughal art. Ebba Koch has pointed out that in the emperor’s palaces, garden architecture bore great importance; gardens were seen as a kind of earthly paradise. In order to extend the paradisiacal sphere of the garden into the palace, its walls were decorated with stone inlays (inspired by the Italian pietre dure technique) and reliefs. The precious stone inlays with birds of the jahroka, or throne architecture, of the Emperor Shah Jahan in Delhi, which dates to between 1638 and 1648 and includes Florentine stone inlay technique depicting symmetrically placed birds. The extraordinary realism, exact symmetry and harmony of these textiles evoke Mughal art.352 Not only were the palaces covered with various kinds of stone decorations but also with textiles, such as carpets or embroideries, similar to the colchas of this group – the emperor’s tents were adorned in this manner as well. Two unique pieces from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Museu do Caramulo (cat. no. 36, 37) are presented in the catalogue alongside the more common examples to illustrate examples for what might have been special commissions. Interestingly these colchas demonstrate the most obvious parallels to contemporary Mughal motifs. During the seventeenth century the decoration of colchas became increasingly floral and approximately around the middle of the seventeenth century almost completely eschewed figurative elements owing to changes in taste, especially of North European consumers. The second, the floral group featuring vine scrolls that are more lavish and fantastic were probably transferred to India in the form of illustrated herbals but also found models in situ. Stylistically the second group proved to be path-breaking for the later commissions of the British and Dutch market. While many Gujarati colchas adapted to the predilection of the European Baroque for large lavish floral scrolls, the comparable embroideries for the Mughal clientele remain flatter and more delicate. What remained the same is the size of the textiles, their basic layout (a large border around a middle field), their strictly symmetrical structure, the material employed and the techniques used. Very probably the places of production remained the same as well, and, as indicated by a colcha with similar lavish floral designs from the collection of the Maharajas of Jaipur, the textiles continued to be traded to different consumer markets.353 351 See: Ogilvie, 2006, pp. 248–252. 352 Koch, 2006; Koch, 1988. On Shah Jahan’s throne architecture and its complex implications. 353 Today in the National Museum in New Delhi including a palace stamp.

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The production of the purely floral colchas increased within the period in which British influence increased. The Portuguese seemingly preferred floral designs with colourful backgrounds. Based on what survives in British and Dutch museums and what seventeenth century records tell, the North European consumers tended to prefer polychrome Indian embroidery on a white foundation also seen on the painted cotton chintzes. This type with floral patterns continued to be traded successfully until the second half of the eighteenth century and decorated the more intimate spaces of a wealthy household or dressed the most fashionable women of the time such as Mme. de Pompadour in her portrait by F.H. Drouais from 1763/64 in the National Gallery in London. Developing into one of the most successful design for large size textiles towards the end of the seventeenth century was a tree of life motif of Chinese inspiration, illustrating the thematic parallels to contemporary Chinese embroidery production for the European market.354 It is possible that the Indian and Chinese embroiderers occasionally used the same European models.355 However, the use of different techniques and the different aesthetic concepts of the embroiderers led them to very different stylistic results. Embroideries are a useful means of comparison and illustrate how European forms travelled during the early modern period and how they were received and integrated in different cultures. Because of the longer distance, Chinese textiles were rarer in Europe and probably more expensive. The incentive to copy them was high, not only in Europe but also in India. Given the craze for chinoiserie of all kind in Europe during the second half of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Chinese textiles and European chinoiseries gave rise to the adaptation of ever newer styles and imagery in Indian embroidery, as is illustrated in the later floral colchas, especially those featuning the tree of life motif.

Colchas with Gold and Silver The third group discussed in this study (see cat. nos. 41–46) differs significantly from other Gujarati colchas, showing clear differences in material, technique and style.356 They are the only known colchas that include considerable quantities of gold and silver threads, making 354 Hartkamp-Jonxis, 1987; Hartkamp-Jonxis, 1994. 355 Pacheco Ferreira, 2005, pp. 108–118. 356 Some examples not featured in the present publication: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 2232, Victoria & Albert Museum, Inv. IM 2-1912, two colchas from Art Institute of Chicago (inv. unknown), one in the Palácio da Pena and the Palacio Nacional, both in Sintra, one in the ducal palace of Guimarães, Inv. P.D. 554, Musée Guimet, Inv. AEDTA 3407, one in the Fundação das Casa de Fronteira e Alorna, Palácio da Fronteira, Lisbon, Museu do Oriente in Lisbon: Inv. FO-1089, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 66.862, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 1926, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 1978.53, The Hispanic Society of America, New York, Inv. H972, in the collections of the cathedral of Évora and Lisbon, in the Stadtmuseum Klausen; There are images of colchas of this group in auction catalogues: Leiria Nascimento, Lisbon: 23–25 February 1994, 26/27 October 1994 (Collection of Commandante Ernesto Vilhena), 7/8 November 1995 und 6/7 December 1995. Sothebys April/2003 and Spink, London: The Glamour of Silk, 1996.

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them more valuable and certainly more expensive than the other colchas. Doubtlessly for this reason, they were highly esteemed by consumers of luxury goods. Embroidery with metal threads was known in India through the Middle Ages and mainly linked to production attached to Indian sultanate courts. During the sixteenth century important centres were the Kingdom of Vijayanagar and the Mughal court which maintained workshops in various places of the empire, among others in Gujarat and Rajasthan, for garments decorated with gold embroidery, also tent furnishings, saddles and much more. It was only under Aurangzeb that resources became rarer and artisans moved to regional centres such as Rajasthan and the Deccan.357 Apart from the couching metal threads there is another marked feature characterising this group: they were predominantly embroidered with satin stitch and not with chain or backstitch as most other colchas studied in this book. Satin stitch was known in India but it is more characteristic for Chinese export embroideries of the time, and a direct influence from there probably enhanced its use for export production. The port cities of Gujarat were places of busy exchange and Chinese traders were present there. Besides, as Carletti’s report proves, the silk for some embroideries came from China.358 It is possible that the imported silk was especially suitable for satin stitch – so popular in Chinese embroideries. It could be that these threads were less twisted and thus broader and more fibrous. Coming from China they were also more expensive than Indian silk threads, thus enhancing the value of the textile. However, only further scientific analysis will show whether these colchas were embroidered of Chinese silk. The basic layout of the pieces does not vary much from other groups, it is strictly symmetrical, with borders surrounding a large rectangular middle field. The middle field is either structured around a pronounced centre or, in later pieces, it is organised in a repeat pattern covering the whole middle field similar to some Mughal lattice and compartment carpets of the mid seventeenth century.359 The main stitches employed were straight satin stitch and couching for the metal threads.360 Stylistically, this group seems to have developed into what is represented as nos. 46 and 47 in the catalogue during the eighteenth century. To the author’s knowledge, most textiles of this group survive in Portuguese collections, suggesting that this was one of the main export markets. Some pieces can be found in old collections in various countries, suggesting that this group was also traded internationally. One of these embroideries is today in the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul, which houses the collections of the former Ottoman Sultans. This textile is longer and narrower 357 358 359 360

Gupta, 1996, pp. 37–46. Silvestro (ed.), 1958, pp. 156 and 214. Ekhtiar/Soucek/Canby/Haidar (eds.), 2011. See carpet no. 265, p. 376. Thomas, 1977, pp. 54–57, 179–181; Amoroso Leslie, 2007, pp. 43–46, 187–190; Wanner-JeanRichard, 2014, pp. 30, 31; Gupta, 1996, pp. 71–129.

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in width than the colchas discussed here and may have been used in the Harem section to cover the seats along the walls.361 Yet another embroidery from this group is housed in the Stadtmuseum of Klausen (cat. no. 44) in South Tyrol (Italy). Like the piece from the Topkapi Saray Museum, it is an elongated rectangle but was adapted to be used as an altar frontal: it was cut at both sides to suit its new purpose. It formed part of the collection of the last Habsburg queen of Spain, Maria Anna of Neuburg (1667–1740) who left a portion of her possessions to the monastery in Klausen. Driving force behind her donation was her confessor Gabriel Pontifeser. Her husband died in 1700, the queen remained in Spain. Around the same time the she donated the Loretoschatz, including the frontal, to Klausen. 1700 thus provides a terminus ante quem for dating the altar frontal, which was probably produced during the later seventeenth century.362 Compared to other colchas of the group the frontal is quite assured in style, indicating that it came out of a well established production and provides an important reference to the dating of stylistically similar textiles of the group. Two other colchas with gold and silver survive in Portuguese ecclesiastical collections where they may have been used in different decorative contexts such as processions and interior decoration.363 The surviving examples and the identification of this group in documents and different old collections over quite a long period demonstrates they were produced and appreciated internationally over a period of approximately two hundred years from the second half of the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century. The style of the early colchas of this group suggests they were originally intended to be sold especially to the markets of the Islamic world. Given their strong presence in Portuguese collections, they seem to have been wellreceived in this market soon. As time passed by, the designs were modified, also specific elements were introduced in order to adjust not only to European taste, for example the five senses but also to Mughal taste with the lattice design of later pieces. Interestingly, the numerous contemporary inventories consulted so far do not explicitely mention colchas made with gold and silver thread, although this is a striking feature and an important denominator of value. However, the term alcatifa de ouro (golden carpet) occurs occasionally in documents of the later sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries: The earliest relevant document dates from between 1577 and 1580. This is a list of the many items that the Cardinal-King Henrique sent to the Xerife de Marrocos. Among many things from Portuguese Asia were two alcatifas de estrado. They are not explicitly designated Indian, but the items surrounding them are all doubtlessly from there, suggesting that they too came from India. One was further described as worked (lavrado – mostly 361 Rogers, 1987, p.108. 362 Klausen Stadtmuseum, Loretoschatz: Theil, 1976. 363 One piece was in a church of the municipality of Belém in Lisbon (today in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga), the two others are in the Cathedral of Lisbon, a third is in the Cathedral of Évora: Trnek/Vassalo e Silva, 2001, pp. 185–187, cat. no. 74.

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meaning embroidered) with animals and entirely covered with gold and silver, the other was worked with birds and a lady with a rose in her hand in the middle (recalling one of the five senses), of silk and gold.364 The description matches the colchas with gold and silver even though they were called alcatifa, a term more associated with carpets, but in this case reflecting its use. In 1591 Archduke Albrecht, viceroy of Portugal provided objects for Emperor Rudolf II, who had a penchant for the valuable and rare. Among other embroidered objects there were four carpets of gold (alcatifas de ouro).365 It is notable that the alcatifas are listed here among the embroidered items, thus strongly suggesting that they, too, were embroidered. Oliveyra’s Grandezas de Lisoba form 1620 explicitly lists among many other textiles coming from India “very beautiful coverlets of silk embroidered with gold.”366 The most famous knotted carpets with silver and gold were actually produced in Safavid Iran only during the seventeenth century, the so called Polonaise or Shah Abbas carpets, but these do not seem to be meant in the documents from 1577/80 and 1591, their date is too early for these carpets. Safavid carpets were indeed sold via Goa to Europe, but surprisingly no Shah Abbas carpet was included in the publication The Oriental Carpet in Portugal, suggesting they were not even a success later on, in seventeenth century Portugal.367 The author corresponded with Maria João Pacheco Ferreira, the specialist of Chinese textiles for the Portuguese market, who confirmed that during the sixteenth and seventeenth century the term alcatifa was not only employed for knotted but also for embroidered textiles that could be laid on the floor.368 The designation alcatifa might hint at the use of these textiles as summer carpets, possible in the context of the indoor dais or estrado. It is thus highly possible that the alcatifas de ouro mentioned in the documents are identified with this specific group of Indian embroideries in gold and silver. Based on the dates of the documents quoted above (1577–78 and 1591) the earliest of these exported colchas/alcatifas can be dated to the second half of the sixteenth century. As the piece from the Stadtmuseum Klausen suggests, they were traded to the Iberian market at least until the late seventeenth century. Concerning the origins and provenance of the alcatifas de ouro, documents point to Cambay – often a pars pro toto for the entire region of Gujarat. The aforementioned inventory 364 Gifts that the Cardinal-King Henrique sent to the Xerife de Marrocos between 1577 and 1580, Biblioteca da Ajuda, Avulsos, 51-IX.22. As transcribed in Pedroso, 2003, Apêndice Documental, document 1, p. 10. 365 Valladolid, Archivo General de Simancas, Cámara de Castilla, Libro de Cédulas de Paso, no. 362, fol. 471r. San Lorenzo, 18 September 159, quoted from Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela, 2001, p, 74. 366 Oliveyra, 2003, p. 13. 367 Hallett/Pacheco Pereira, 2007. 368 Email correspondance from Dec. 22. 2010. See also designation used by Bérinstain in Bérinstain/ Day/Floret, 1997, p. 208.

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of Viceroy Dom Francisco da Gama (viceroy from 1597–1600) for instance included two alcatifas de ouro e prata that were explicitly sent from Cambay.369 Scholars have suggested three different locations for the production of these colchas: Gujarat,370 the Deccan371 and the court workshop of Istanbul.372 Sumru Belger Krody, a specialist on Ottoman embroidery, confirmed the author’s suspicion that no such production existed in the court workshops of the sultans. The embroidery corresponds neither in terms of style nor of technique to that produced in Istanbul during the period in question.373 Furthermore, whereas many of these pieces can be found in Portuguese collections today, only one survives in the Topkap Saray Museum in Istanbul. Istanbul can thus be excluded as production site. The Deccan with Bijapur as the closest Deccani sultanate to Goa is also a possible production site. Gold embroidery was indeed produced there, mainly linked to the sultan’s court.374 The colchas of gold and silver were produced over a period of approximately two hundred years. It strikes one as extraordinary that such a successful export production – supposing it to be in the Deccan – left no trace whatsoever in contemporary European records. As discussed above, the records and reports of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Linschoten, Carletti, Sassetti, Pyrard de Laval, EEIC etc.) repeatedly mention Gujarat and Bengal as the main production site of Indian embroidered colchas for export. None mention the Deccan or Bijapur as large-scale colcha-producing export centres. The author is aware that the documents have to be dealt with carefully. For instance, some colchas were in fact called “Goan” in contemporary records, although Goa was never a place of large-scale embroidery production, but it is the very location where all textiles – also those from Bengal, Gujarat and China – were collected and then shipped to Lisbon – hence the wrong designation. Since contemporary records consulted so far are completely silent about the Deccan operating a considerable export production of colchas or rather alcatifas de ouro, Gujarat is the more probable production site. Admittedly, close stylistic links also persist to the Daccan, especially pertaining to the considerable influence of floral Ottoman stylistic vocabulary. The floral patterns are strongly stylised and geometrised, which might be due to different workshops and to the different stitches employed. It would not have been too difficult for the Daccani court to commission textiles of the Gujarat variety exactly according to their requirements or following the models they provided. The Deccani Sultans had their own court workshops, but it is improbable that these 369 Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, Reservados, Código 1986, fl. 118r. 370 In the documentation of most Portuguese Museums. See also: Bérinstain, 1997, p. 208. 371 Crill, 1999, p. 34; also Stephen Cohen in a lecture at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in December 2007. 372 Rogers, 1987, p.108. 373 Belger Krody, 2000. 374 Gupta, 1996, p. 44, 45.

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would have produced such large quantities of customised textiles for the export market over a period of two hundred years: roughly from the mid sixteenth century well into the eighteenth century. This is even more improbable, since according to Charu Gupta the Deccan did not emerge as an important centre for gold embroidery until the time of Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707).375 Stylistic comparisons also lend credence to Gujarat as place of production. Regarding documentary evidence, their style and designs, the colcha production of the early pieces in this group can be dated to the sixteenth century, but gold embroidery has existed in Gujarat since the Sultanate period. Very similar designs can be seen on sixteenth-century Gujarati mother-of-pearl boxes, which also supports the dating of the early pieces to the late sixteenth century.376 Gujarat provided all the necessary basic requirements: easy access to the markets through its geographical situation and access to raw material through the ports and own production: not only silk and cotton, but precious metal used in the embroideries was also easily available because of to the respective imports by foreign trade, paying in bullion for Indian goods. In addition, a highly skilled workforce and well developed textile industry, access to different style vocabularies and international commissioners eased access to the markets. These basic requirements plus the documentary evidence and the stylistic parallels lend credence to Gujarat as place of production for the colchas with metal threads.

375 Gupta, 1996, p. 44, 45 376 Digby, 1985, pp. 213. Especially detailed: Jordão Felgueiras, 1996, pp. 128–155; Sangl, 2001, pp. 263– 28; Sangl, 2007, pp. 257–266. ; Karl, 2010a.

Concluding Remarks

All through the Middle Ages, goods from the East had set the standards for prestige and taste of the European upper classes. Luxury goods like silk textiles and porcelain largely came from or through the Byzantine Empire and the expanding Islamic world, which then included the Iberian Peninsula. The early modern European eye was to a certain degree acquainted with pre-selected designs of the Byzantine, the Islamic and Chinese East that strongly influenced European artistic production and successively substituted eastern imports through production at home. Early modern maritime expansion led to direct access to South and Southeast Asian markets. European consumers, with the Portuguese at the forefront, soon accepted adapted Indian and Chinese designs in the form of luxury goods. Imports via the newly opened Cape Route brought many novel items not formerly exported from Asia and perpetuated the long established East West migration of technologies, forms and ideas into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Indian textiles were coveted items of early modern trade along the leading Asian and African trade routes, the main export destinations for Indian textiles before the arrival of the Portuguese, and they continued to be the most important markets after the creation of the Estado da Índia. The Portuguese profited from established sea routes and added new artistic forms to the circuits of specific art productions of Asian economic and artistic core regions, such as China, Iran and especially India. The complexities of international exchange are reflected in the specific embroidery production of Bengal and Gujarat, which from around the mid-sixteenth century onwards was adapted by Portuguese private merchants to the requirements of European consumers. The development of these products went hand in hand with the rise of the Portugese power in India. They rendered it visible. Export goods were searched for and chosen by European merchants in India by transposing parts of their own cultural background onto the artistic landscape of India. Evidently they chose objects and themes they knew they could use themselves and that would sell well in Europe. Indian textiles in general and the colchas studied in this book in particular are an ideal example for this selecting process; by adding a new consumer market the Portuguese turned the colchas into a means of interaction between local techniques and foreign forms, which they then transferred to where they were sold – mainly Europe. The close reading of different historical sources proposed location, dating and consumption patterns of this specific production. In comparison to their overall trade, the Portuguese merchants exported considerable quantities of Indian textiles not only to Europe but even more so to the rest of Asia. In terms of quantity the trade in colchas was not as important as trade in plain cloths, but

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since they left manifold traces in historic documents that identify them, they allow close insight into the mechanisms of production, commission and exchange of Indian textiles in general. In addition, their strong presence in old documents of many different European contexts attests to their importance. Thanks to their geographic position the prosperous Indian provinces of Bengal and Gujarat were linked to the most important land and sea routes of the subcontinent; both had well established textile centres and produced for an international market. The Portuguese were one of many players and always dependent on powerful local structures, which they were able to exploit for their own profit. In Bengal their striving for influence eventually cost them almost everything; their stronghold Hugli was taken by the Mughal army in 1632. Colcha production suffered only briefly. Production soon recovered and continued to the late seventeenth century. By then however, the tastes of European consumers tended towards floral designs. Gujarati embroidery managed to adapt much better to this – probably because of its closeness to Goa and the just emerging British Bombay, new models were integrated more quickly, and because of the presence of a flourishing chintz production for export that had long favoured floral designs. Cultural transfer is closely linked to producers an consumers. Embroidery for the export market was highly professionalised, but unfortunately hardly anything is known about the craftsmen. The embroidery was carried out by male artisans with raw materials that were partly available locally and partly had to be imported to the production centres, increasing the value of the final product. The complex iconographic programme is fascinating in an utterly unique way, since it combines local Indian elements of Bengal and Gujarat with European features. The latter dominate the fairly traditional iconographic concept of royal representation, which was exoticised through filtration by the Indian craftsmen. The results of this mélange are stunning, for they translate this cultural exchange and misunderstandings into artistic material. Either the Indian or the European element dominates depending on the type of textiles and their date of production. Rather than demonstrating a fixed programme the themes on many colchas revolve around allegorical notions of just rule, justice or just punishment, expressed either by depictions of courtly scenes and personifications. The complex iconographic programme features parallels to Iberian contemporary literary production and dynastic propaganda and stresses the importance of Portuguese presence in India, celebrating it at a time when Portugal felt increasingly neglected by its king, who resided in Spain. Many allude to paradisiacal themes, taking inspiration not only from European but also from Islamic Indian, Hindu and Chinese models. The interculturality of the colchas’ programmes was in a way reflected in colonial Portuguese society that was their intermediary and to a certain extent their clientele. This was an intermarried Portuguese elite, the casados, that had great economic and political influence within the Estado da Índia. Colchas cut through many different layers of economic, social and artistic exchange, their development mirrors political circumstances. They stand at the beginning of direct large- scale interventions of Europeans in the commission of Indian products. This culmi-

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nated with the British, and despite drastic changes still persists today. A complex relationship of cross- cultural influences emerges as forms and techniques were exchanged between the European creators of the designs, the producers of the textiles, the embroiderers from Gujarat and Bengal and the consumers back in Europe. All these, plus internationally active merchants – most of them nameless – are fundamental to these different stages of cultural translations. The private traders prepared the ground for this lasting development. By adapting a part of Bengal and Gujarati textile production for a new – European – market, they enabled the creation of a successful customised product of high quality corresponding to the tastes of the upper strata of European society. They emerge as vital actors within the economic and cultural context of the time and as protagonists of international trade. The itineraries taken by the colchas were manifold. Not all were exported to Europe, many were sold in India, some in Japan. Brazil and Africa also made up two other consumer markets. Since little survives in these places, it is difficult to determine whether or not the colchas sold there looked exactly like those that exist in Europe today; further research is necessary. Among the most important colchas are the few examples that survive in old collections. Not only do they tell us about their itinerary but even more about their reception and dating. Their presence in the most important princely collections of the time tells us a great deal about how highly esteemed and priced they were. Departing from the few datable pieces and their mention in inventories, a time scale can be established that helps to date other examples. Asian artistic products in general had a great impact on European artistic creation and technological development. The imports of Chinese porcelain for instance were a vital driving force in advancing European porcelain production since the sixteenth century. By the eighteenth century the most important European sovereigns could already eat from porcelain made in their own realms. Textiles had an even greater impact. Until the establishment of heavy industries, textiles were the most important trade good worldwide after food and bullion. The constant import of luxury textiles from the east influenced the taste of the European consumers. This influence was acknowledged by European producers in the adaptation of their own productions to the new requirements of the home markets. Exotic patterns were copied alongside foreign techniques. In the Portuguese context Asian-import textiles were successfully – albeit only locally – copied and adapted, some productions persist until today. More successful examples of this exchange mechanism are the painted and printed Indian cotton textiles, the chintzes that were much en vogue across Europe during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and were among the important drivers of European industrialisation. The colchas examined in this book were not the main vehicles of this stylistic and technologic development but acted as an important early agent. Not only do they survive in important numbers, they are also traceable in the diverse records thanks to their singularity. Since they are among the earliest examples of the considerable and direct intervention of European agents in Indian production, they constitute a vital stage on the way towards the adaptation of exotic forms and the technologization of the European textile industries.



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1. Colcha Roxa – Third Phase, Group of Fine Lines Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; 255 x 311 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 4581 tec (See catalogue number 4)

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2. Blue Colcha Bengal/Hugli region, second half sixteenth century; 265 x 235 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4593 tec (See catalogue number 5)



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3. Colcha with Pelican – Second Phase, Compact Group Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, since 1580, early seventeenth century; 251 x 198 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2282 tec (See catalogue number 7)

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4. Solomon Colcha – Second Phase, Compact Group Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, since 1580, early seventeenth century; 271 x 223 cm; Cleveland Museum of Art, Inv. 1969.295 (See catalogue number 8)



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5. Solomon Colcha – Third Phase, Compact Group Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; 330 x 280 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3692 (See catalogue number 16)

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6. Phaeton Colcha – Third Phase, Compact Group Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century, pre-1640; 243 x 185 cm (fragment); Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4588 tec (See catalogue number 23)



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7. The Battlefield Colcha – Third Phase, Compact Group Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; 311 x 278 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4575 (See catalogue number 24)

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8. Colcha of the Ecclesiastical Dignitary – Late Third Phase, Compact Group (fragment) Bengal/Hugli region, second third seventeenth century; 175 x 128 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3750 (See catalogue number 27)



9. Red Colcha – Third Phase, Red Group Bengal/Hugli region, mid-seventeenth century; 202 x 288 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 112 (See catalogue number 29)

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10. Phoenix/Pineapple Colcha – Second Phase Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century, probably around 1640; 236 x 159 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2136 (See catalogue number 31)



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11. Figurative/Floral Colcha with Mythological Birds – Third Phase Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late sixteenth century, first half seventeenth century, before 1640; 280 x 195 cm; Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid, Inv. 2012 (See catalogue number 33)

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12. Figurative/Floral colcha with Venus and Mars – Third Phase Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first third seventeenth century; 296 x 221 cm; Museu do Caramulo da Fundação Abel de Lacerda, Serra do Caramulo, Inv. FAL 461 (See catalogue number 36)



13. Battlefield Colcha – Third Phase Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century; 264 x 202 cm; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 50.3224 (See catalogue number 37)

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14. Colcha – alcatifa de ouro Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late seventeenth/early eighteenth century; 310 x 247 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2232 (See catalogue number 41)



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15. Colcha with Five Senses – alcatifa de ouro Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late seventeenth, eighteenth century; 306 x 240 cm; Musée Guimet/Collection Krishna Riboud, Paris, Inv. AEDTA 3407 (See catalogue number 43)

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16. Colcha – alcatifa de ouro Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, first half eighteenth centuy; 342 x 265 cm; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 1926 (See catalogue number 45)



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1. COLCHA – PROTOTYPE, GROUP OF FINE LINES Bengal/Hugli region, second half sixteenth century 279 x 209 cm Yellow tussar silk embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on undyed white cotton ground MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna,377 Inv. T 1147

1a. Sketch of colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century pre-1590; MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Inv. T 1147

The yellow embroidery is set against an undyed white cotton foundation. The colours are very weakly contrasted, which makes this and other pieces extremely difficult to photograph. The colcha is of great importance as one of the few surviving earliest colchas of the elegant style. Like the other prototypes, it does not yet show any European influence and thus provides an idea of what sultanate production looked like before the arrival of the Portuguese. This piece represents a point of departure in the development that peaks in the very elegant colcha roxa of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 4, colour plate 1) and the colcha with the pelicans in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (cat. no. 3). The basic layout of this colcha features one framing border, which is accompanied by finely embroidered guard stripes with

377 It was bought 1867 in Stuttgart. The MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst/Vienna owns another colcha similar to the blue piece of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, which comes from the collection of the notorious Kanonikus Franz Bock (Inv. T 1979/ 1865).

1b. Detail of Colcha

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circles that are in turn intersected by semicircles. The border portrays hunting scenes with animals such as gazelles and beasts of prey, and an individual and apparently nonEuropean rider on horseback, also an elephant running towards a fierce predator. These beasts are endowed with fantastical dragon-like features. A hound and a tiger can be discerned, both with wide open maws and sharp teeth. Some of the wild animals have collars around their neck, a sign of domestication indicating an organised courtly hunt. Others are wild animals. Approximately around 1700 Alexander Hamilton described the shores of the Hugli river as “overgrown with Bushes, which give shelter to many fierce and troublesome Tygers, who do much mischief.”378 Bengal was a rich hunting ground. Stylised blossoms are stitched into the densely embroidered background; they are very large and do not match the scale of the animals. Every square centimetre of the border is embroidered with fine floral designs in delicate backstitch, stabilising the fabric. The animals float within it. Often, the main figures and ornaments were stitched solely through one or two layers of thin cotton fabric. A third and occasionally fourth layer of cruder and stronger fabric was then added on the back. In order to attach it to the other layers the outlines of the basic organisation and main decoration were stitched through all layers, thus evincing the different work steps in the embroidery. Intersecting lines in the corners of the middle field form an irregular octagon, which is in turn further subdivided into an elongated rectangle; four diagonal lines set into the corners form an irregular hexagon in the middle field. An octofoil rosette set into a double circle marks the centre of the colcha. The corners of the outer middle field are decorated with birds and stylised circular blossoms and snake-eating peacocks – an Indian motif used in Hinduism and Buddhism. As snake-eaters they were attributed apotropaic prowess and protected against misfortune and snake bites. Peacocks and their feathers accompany Indian gods and are often encountered in later colchas.379 They count among the symbols that continued to be used for the Portuguese commissioners. Given their frequent use, it is probable that their symbolism was understood by the latter. The four trapezoid spaces are filled with fine geometric patterns: diagonally set small squares with tiny flowers. In the separated corners of the inner rectangle are two affronted beasts with collars. Pheasants are placed directly above them in the small border. The space around the central rosette again shows the square pattern, which this time is filled with fauna. In the outer circle there are again pairs of birds, and small gazelles and birds have even been placed in the rosette itself. The backstitch renders the whole piece as very delicate and refined in style and hints at a highly developed production. The style of the animals and figures of this colcha differs from contemporary European models and is a result of the fusion of elements imported from the Islamic world during the sultanate period, with local motifs that were consequently filtered by Bengal artisans. The 378 Hamilton, 1744, vol. I, p. 399. 379 Zin, 2003, 86, 325.

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style that emerged is characteristic of the arts of the Indian sultanates.380 Live wild animals were part of the sultanate court in India. The theme of the hunt is one of the archetypal motifs popularised from western Europe to East Asia and often linked to a courtly milieu. Not surprisingly, hunting scenes were already a subject in Bengal embroideries before the arrival of the Portuguese and suggest the milieu the colchas were used in. Most Bengal colchas show at least some hunting scenes and were accordingly designated colchas de montaria or hunting colchas in the early records. This was not only based on the fact that the earliest colchas featured mainly hunting scenes; when unfolding the colchas, the hunting scenes of the outermost border were the first motifs to be seen, which could be one more reason for this specific designation.

2. COLCHA – SECOND PHASE, GROUP OF FINE LINES

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, 1580s pre-1596 242 x 312 cm Yellow tussar silk embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on undyed white cotton ground, fringes surround the whole textile Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Inv. PA 72

The second example discussed here is part of the second phase, illustrating the adaptation of certain European motifs. This colcha is of special importance as it is one of the few pieces that can be dated with some exactness. It is from Ambras Castle, today part of the Kunsthistorische Museum in Vienna. It is one of the very rare instances in which the provenance is known, having once been part of the famous Kunstkammer of Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol, son of the Emperor Ferdinand I and cousin of Philip II King of Spain. He died in 1595 and his posthumous estate inventory of 1596 lists the colcha in the variocasten, cupboard 17, as: “Moreover an Indian cover of tender linen with Indian embroidery of many animals made of raw silk.”381 The year 1596 is thus the terminus ante quem for the production of this colcha. As mentioned above the colcha might have arrived from Spain as gift from a family member in 1592.382 Taking into account that the time of production and the means of transport from Bengal to Spain and from there to Tyrol took years, one can assume the late 1580s as the latest possible date of production. 380 See for example: Porter/Degorge, 2009. 381 Boeheim, 1888: CCCVII; Vienna, 2000, p. 216, „Mer ain Indianische grosse deckhn von zarter leinwant, mit gar schöner Indianischer arbait von allerlei thüeren ausgenäet mit roher gefleter seidn.“ 382 Madrid, Archivo Historico Nacional, Consejos, libro 2394, fol. 55v. Letter to the viceroy in Valencia, Montejo, June 18th 1592; quoted from: Jordan Gschwend/Perez de Tudela, 2001, p. 78.

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2. Detail of Colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, 1580s pre-1596; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Inv. PA 72 [ganze Seite]

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Whereas the content of the colchas becomes more elaborate in this group, the basic layout, usually repeated along the vertical and horizontal axis, becomes simpler from piece to piece. Here, three borders surround the rectangular centre, its corners again forming triangles. A circle marks the centre of the piece. The style of this colcha is not as elegant and refined as that of the colcha of the Museum für angewandte Kunst, the dividing lines and animals are worked in less detail. Among other animals (and similar to the colcha of the Museum für angewandte Kunst, cat. no. 1) the outer border shows deer, dragons and beasts of prey but this time in two registers. In addition, several male figures were introduced who are clearly dressed in European fashion of that time. Stylised circular blossoms float between the embroidered figures stitched into a indistinctly defined background of almost indiscernible floral motifs. The background is finely stitched. The second border shows hunters, not all of them dressed in European fashion, on foot or on horseback, chasing one another. The third border shows men with daggers, lined up and preparing to fight. As in the earlier piece the triangular corners of the middle field are decorated with apotropaic snake-eating peacocks and smaller birds. The diagonally placed borders are subdivided by squares, each including a small bird. The central hexagon is filled with vine scrolls and birds. The circular centre is accentuated by two poplar-shaped ornaments. Appearing in such an early colcha, the self-sacrificing pelican marks the small circular centre; vegetal scrolls and a faunal border surround him, adding some dynamism to the textile. The pelican seems to have been of special importance to the commissioners; it was among the first European elements introduced in the local colcha production and is one of the few Christian symbols used in both the Bengali and the Gujarati productions. The pelican is a symbol of self-sacrifice and charity, both virtues associated with Christ’s sufferings on the cross as Redeemer of the world, but it also stands for the Resurrection and the Eucharist. The pelican is a symbol of Christ, who sacrificed his blood for humanity.383 It is one of the most popular motifs seen on art objects commissioned by the Portuguese in Asia and was closely linked to missionary activities. Animal symbols were frequently used in the Asian missions. Between India and Japan the missionaries encountered native religions in which animals had a special importance or were even sacred.384 By adjusting to the local traditions the Catholic faith was made much more accessible to the indigenous peoples – it may have been difficult to imagine worshipping a tortured body on a cross. Besides, as a symbol used for the Asian missions the pelican embodied the virtues of the missionaries, who were sacrificing themselves by spreading what they believed to be the true religion. In the Portuguese context the pelican is closely linked to D. João II King of Portugal (1455–1495), predecessor of D. Emanuel I, whose personal symbol was the pelican, connoted by his motto: “pola lei e pola grei” (meaning: I, the king, sacrifice myself for law and 383 Kirschbaum/ Bandmann/Braunfels, 1968–1972. vol. 3, pp. 390; Kretschmer, 2011, 316. 384 Neuwirth, 1999 unpubl., chapter: Pelikan und Sonne als Zeichen der Expansion.

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people, like Christ). Alongside the coat of arms and the cross of the Order of Christ – the specifically Portuguese version of the Templars – the pelican became one of the symbols of the Aviz dynasty. In the context of Bengal colchas this is seen most clearly in the now disappeared colcha published by Reynaldo dos Santos (see cat. no. 25), where the pelican and the armillary sphere – so often used by D. Emanuel I – flank the Portuguese coat of arms.385 Secular and sacred, Avis rule and missionary zeal met in the symbol of the self-sacrificing pelican, combining the aims of expansion. The two possibilities complement each other and lend a certain ambivalence to the symbol on the colcha, standing both for the conquest of territory and souls of the – for them – newly discovered territories. The pelican as evidently Christian element and the figures in European costume show the increasing introduction of new motifs in colcha design. The pelican in the centre, even though it is not very large, substantiates the use of the colcha in a religious as well as secular context. The similarities between this and the example in the Museum für angewandte Kunst (cat. no. 1) show the continuity of style in the workshops and illustrate the first steps of the adaptation of new, European elements. Thanks to the reference to this specific piece in the 1596 inventory of Ferdinand II of Tyrol, we can speculate about the dating of some of the other colchas, especially as they are very similar in style: the so called prototypes and the colchas of the adapting second phase were probably produced at least up until the 1590s. Two more related colchas are in a British private collection, formerly in the possession of the well known textile collector and dealer Ms. Cora Ginsburg, and in the Musées d’Art et d’Histoire Geneva (Inv. T sn 28).386 The latter bears the date “1646” written on the textile in ink and suggests a production some fifty years after the Ambras inventory. However, the date may have been added in ink later and may indicate the mere integration of the piece into the collection of its new owner. If the textile was indeed produced so late, it would accordingly show that colcha production remained very diversified and directed to different markets until a comparatively late date. The textiles continued to be produced as long as they sold well. The following two sumptuous colchas represent the peak of production – the third phase – of this group and were produced after the 1590s. Although very similar in style, they differ significantly in subject matter. The iconography of the colcha roxa from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 4) is much more complex than the colcha from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (cat. no. 3), which is in turn better balanced and more harmonious as a whole. Both count among the masterpieces of Indian textile art.

385 Santos, 1970, pp. 204–209. 386 See museum catalogue: Martiniani-Reber /Besson,/Kaur, 1997, pp. 37 and 55.

3. Colcha – Third Phase, Group of Fine Lines

3. COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, GROUP OF FINE LINES

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century approx. 300 x 250 cm Yellow tussar silk embroidery on undyed white cotton foundation Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 01.6269 T.5008

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The basic organisation of this colcha is easy to comprehend and simpler than the preceding pieces of the same group. Furthermore, new motifs were introduced. Three borders surround the middle field, two of them thinner and laid at both sides of a broader one. The rectangular middle field features quarter-circles in the four corners, and a circular centre emphasises the middle. The guard stripes are drawn with aligned floral pearl strings. It is the simplicity and perfect balance of proportions that enhances the value of the textile’s decoration, shows its aesthetic development and endows such harmony to its whole composition. The colour contrast of the foundation embroidery is very weak, thus details are 3a. Sketch of colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, first difficult to distinguish. The background of half seventeenth century; Museum of Fine Arts, the textile is densely embroidered in fine Boston, Inv. 01.6269/T.500. 1. Large rosette, floral designs in backstitch similar to the 2. Hunters, animals and phantastic beings in first colcha of this group. scrollwork, 3. Quarter of a rosette, 4. Animals, figures and flowers, 5. Delicate scrollwork, 6. The first and the third border of this colPelican, 7. Animals, figures and flowers cha display fierce beasts; similar specimens were already depicted on the prototype of the Museum für angewandte Kunst (cat. no. 1). The figures are comparatively small because of the narrow borders. The corners of the outermost border are accentuated by hybrid variations of mermaids or the Indian snake gods, the Naga.387 The latter creature is composed of four elements: the lower part of the body is a snake or a fish; the upper part of the body seems human and has the head of a goat-like dragon. Spread wings surround the composite figure, a creative invention of the local Bengali designers and embroiderers, perhaps combining four elements in one hybrid figure: water for the mermaid, earth for the 387 Dowson, 1888, p. 213.

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3b. Detail of Colcha

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seemingly human body, fire for the dragonhead, and air for the wings. Several sources were commingled to achieve this: first the Indian snake gods, the Naga, or the European style mermaid and a dragon – perhaps of Chinese inspiration – for the upper part. The wings were very probably of ancient Iranian origin (as the European angels are) since neither the Indian Naga, or snakes, nor the classical mermaid is depicted with wings. During the time of the Bengal Sultans artists from Iran were working for the sovereigns. A strong Iranian influence prevailed at court, where Persian was the official language.388 The spirit of hybrid invention shown by the Indian embroiderers is striking; by combining forms from different cultural backgrounds they created new intercultural creatures. Various hunting scenes extend between the hybrid corner figures, showing men with lances, bows and arrows or muskets, elephant fights, beasts of prey hunting gazelles, some couples and snake-eating peacocks. Some scenes are almost comic, such as a little monkey climbing a tree and a camel running by its side. The individual episodes are divided by delicate and disproportionately large flowering plants, some of them in vases, which resemble Mughal decoration schemes on architecture and in album painting. The depiction of a red tent-hanging (red was the colour of the ruler) in an album painting on a Jahangirnama manuscript of 1620 shows very similar flowers.389 Because of the parallels to Mughal style and given the development compared to the former colchas of this group, the textile can be dated to the first half of the seventeenth century. The spiralling vine scrolls of the second border are of great delicacy: they sprout fine flowers, elongated leaves and fruit. The border is populated by small squirrels, monkeys and birds. Four self-sacrificing pelicans with spread wings and their brood are elegantly depicted in the corner medallions. The bird’s scaly body stands on a twisted rope. As explained in detail above, the pelican, as a Christian symbol, stands for both the dynastic and religious side of Portuguese expansion and refers to the Avis dynasty. The bust of a crowned and winged angel is placed under every medallion. Very similar angels and putti feature in Goan architecture and have also found their way into Mughal painting. The third border is similar to the outermost; hunting and fighting scenes extend between disproportionally large flowers. In the corners we see hybrid female figures whose lower halves end in vine scrolls; they are blowing into triton shells. Printed European grotesques most probably served as models for this motif. The quarter-circles in the four corners of the symmetrically divided rectangular middle field are emphasised by strings of small rosettes with blossoms ending in forked leaves. A quarter of a delicately rendered rosette blossoming with individual flowers and small fauna is embroidered into each of the corners. If placed together, the four segments would make up the same shape as that of the eight-leaved rosette in the centre. The rosette seems 388 Robert Skelton has published the Iskandarnama of Nusrat Shah of Bengal, who reigned until 1532: Skelton, 1978. 389 Thackston (ed.), 1999, p. 252, Painting from the Freer Gallery of Art, F31.20.

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inspired by Indo-Islamic decoration, similar shapes are found in Mughal painting. The innermost part of the corner rosettes is accentuated by snake-eating peacocks of Indian origin. The space between the circle segments in the corners and the circular centre is entirely covered with spiralling vine scrolls. European hunters either on foot, or on horseback or elephants, are seen hunting tigers and monkeys, birds, hounds and, curiously, mermaids with musical instruments. The circular centre is surrounded by an outer border in which hunting scenes alternate with large flowers and peacocks with fanned tail. The eight-leaved rosette in the centre repeats the rosette of the circle segments. A self-sacrificing pelican is centrally placed and presents the key to the iconography of the colcha. In this context it is most probably a symbol of Portuguese expansion under the Avis dynasty and is depicted in the centre as well as in each of the four corner medallions of the broadest of the three borders. The colcha was produced at a time when the Avis dynasty had ceased to rule Portugal. Both the Habsburg Spanish king and the Portuguese Bragança family claimed to be its rightful successors and could use their symbols for their own justification. It is thus difficult to say with certainty which party the programme of this and other colchas gravitated towards. Considering the dominating presence of the pelican, the colcha could again be used in a sacred context, even though the grotesque elements might be deemed unfit for religious decorum and make a secular use more probable. The colcha’s design is clearly indebted to its predecessors in style and basic organisation, but has evolved significantly. It combines elements from various backgrounds and on account of its symmetry and balanced programme is one of the most harmonious examples of all Bengal colchas.

4. COLCHA ROXA – THIRD PHASE, GROUP OF FINE LINES

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 255.5 x 311 cm Embroidery in red tussar silk in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on an undyed white cotton foundation Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 4581 tec390

This colcha is the most fascinating textile of the group as it includes numerous hybrid beings and features an unusual colour combination (See colour plate 1).391 It was probably produced around the same time as the former colcha during first half seventeenth century. The red embroidery provides the name for the colcha in the documentation of the Museu 390 See for example: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=247557 (consulted 10.9.2012). Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. Lac dye typical for India. 391 Karl, 2007.

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4b. Detail of a border, colcha roxa (See colour plate 1)

Nacional de Arte Antiga; roxa is Portuguese for this type of purple red (faded in some parts on the textile). The contrast in colour renders the textile more accessible to the viewer’s eye than the yellow examples. Another element is unusual – in 4a. Detail of personification of Justice, fact unique: the colcha is not oriented vertically as colcha roxa, Bengal/Hugli region, first in most of the other pieces, but horizontally, folhalf seventeenth century; Museu Nalowing the orientation of the mythological scenes cional de Arte Antiga, Inv. 4581 tec and the figure standing in the very centre. (See colour plate 1) The layout of the textile is similar to those discussed above. It has three borders, a rectangular middle field with quarter-circles in the corners, and a circular centre. The guard stripes are not emphasised by the usual string of circular blossoms but by a zigzag pattern framed by lines, similar to the first colcha of this group from the Museum für angewandte Kunst. The background is again densely and finely stitched with floral patterns. The three surrounding borders are extraordinarily delicate and varied. As before, the individual scenes, depicted in the innermost and outermost border, are separated by large flowering plants. The corners of the outermost border are accentuated by a hybrid figure, a human figure with a dog’s or bird’s head, or perhaps a man wearing a mask. The creature holds two winged snakes in his hands and entwined about his legs. The snakes’ heads appear to attack the dog- or bird-headed creature. Garuda, the bird-mount of the Indian god Vishnu was often shown as a hybrid. His animosity against snakes is a well known theme in Indian mythology.392 The creature on the colcha is not winged, but the two snakes wrapped around him are. Is it a misinterpretation of the embroiderers? Did they add Garuda’s wings to the snakes and substitute his bird head with the head of a dog? Are the snakes a reinterpretation of Garuda’s wings? Indian gods are often protected by a series of snakes that are 392 Dowson, 1888, pp. 109–110.

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set in a circle form behind their heads – are the two snakes reminiscences of this tradition? Through the mixing and reinterpreting of different elements the figure has lost its clear meaning. Another unusual creature is placed in the middle of every side of the border, a stout giant, probably with an apotropaic function as the snake-eating peacock. He crams small snakes into his mouth with his hands. This motif is also probably of local Bengal inspiration. Scenes from different cultural origins communicating in manifold ways to viewers from different cultural backgrounds were depicted next to each other on the sides between the large flower bushes; most of these scenes on the outermost border have a fantastic element or are linked to courtly themes, such as two European knights riding peacocks – in Hinudism the peacock was a divine mount – and two fighting knights riding unicorns. But there are also two Indian fighters attacking each other with daggers and holding different beasts on ropes. There are others attacking a dragon and two more men on elephants. The decoration of the border follows with a herd of gazelles and a dromedary, three hunters and – seemingly out of context – a self-sacrificing pelican with humpbacked Indian cows next to him. Both are sacred animals, the pelican for Christians, the cow for Hindus. Some of the scenes recall figures from folkloristic fairs with acrobats and various animals, such as two jugglers with a dancing monkey. Others were taken from everyday life, for example two Europeans playing chess under a canopy. Other scenes are pure fantasy such as a hybrid figure (half winged human being, half fish) playing an instrument. The second border is broader and has eight medallions with men and women in elaborately patterned European costume of the period and delicate flowers in the four corners and in the middle of each side. The medallions depicting men are set into the corners and those of the women into the middle of each side. The backgrounds of the medallions show no depth. Smoothly undulating, scrolling vines sprouting forked leaves and flowers extend between the medallions. A rhythm similar to this, namely, a medallion alternating with different vine scrolls, can also be observed in sixteenth century Iberian furniture, the vargueros.393 Smaller pieces of European furniture that reached Inida provide another possible model for colchas. Elephants, birds, squirrels, deer and mice are depicted underneath, above and within the vine scrolls. Interestingly, the snake-eating peacocks – in India endowed with apotropaic prowess, in Europe the bird was also a symbol of vanity – are placed next to each of the medallions, reminiscent of a memento mori. The third border is again filled with a wide variety of motifs of different origins. The scenes are not separated by over-dimensioned flowers but aligned next to each other, a little like cartoons without a coherent story. In the four corners are winged hybrid figures, half woman and half scaly snake – interpretable as mermaids or Naga. They are blowing into a double horn, connoting personifications of fame, possibly referring the heroic deeds of the Portuguese sailors. European couples are standing next to the hybrid creature and 393 For example a piece in the Museum für angewandte Kunst/Vienna: H 2044.

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one of them feeds the gazelles as if in a menagerie. Other sequences show hunting scenes with bears and hounds, with Europeans and Indians on horseback or on foot, armed with muskets or bow and arrow. The most remarkable part portrays two Indian women in almost transparent dresses preparing a tray for a feast or for the temple. In addition we can discern the following motifs: a caravan with packed camels, cows and an ox pulling a chariot on which a man is seated, another hybrid figure, a shepherd with his herd and a European holding a mirror against a snake, probably emulating Perseus in killing Medusa. European knights in full armour are shown fighting, and finally another bizarre scene illustrates animals gesticulating like humans, a scene recalling the ancient Indian fable tradition. This fascinating combination of heterogeneous elements distinguishes the border as one of the most exquisite of all colchas. The quarter-circles in the corners of the rectangular middle field all represent scenes from Roman mythologies that are identified by inscriptions. The dividing lines all end in dragonheads, an element also seen in Bengal architecture. The first corner segment on the top right is marked DIANA and SIRENO. It is not clear which episode exactly is meant by this inscription, since sirens are hybrid female figures who perilously enchant sailors with their songs, and Diana is the Roman goddess of the moon. The embroidery shows a male and a female figure, both in European costume and standing in a bucolic landscape under trees with cows and a fountain. They seem to be conversing. The most remarkable details are the small rocks above them and the small huts topping them. The rocks relate to Chinese models. The small huts are of brick and have thatched roofs, an architectural form characteristic of Bengal and indicating the region of the textiles’ production. The man is holding a club in his hands and the woman some kind of spindle. These two objects are attributes of a famous mythological couple: Hercules and Omphale, probably inspired by Ovid’s Fasti, book II, 303–358.394 The queen persuades the hero to change roles; the latter, blinded by love, accepts. They exchange their attributes, the club and the spindle, a scene also seen on other Bengal colchas. The incorrect inscription indicates that the embroiderer did not understand Latin script. In the segment underneath are three nude women in a fountain under a tree; water is running out of a small rock. A man with the head of a stag is standing in front of them accompanied by his hound drinking water from the fountain and his horse. Above this the inscription reads AMTEAM, and there is the same man lying on the ground with his hound standing on him and his horse running away. Different moments of the same story are depicted in the same space, which is a typically medieval and early modern European way of condensing narratives and often seen on prints. Even though there is an error in the inscription the scene is identifiable as the story of the unfortunate hunter Actaeon in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, book II, 138–252.395 He has been transformed into a stag and killed by his 394 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 540. 395 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 17.

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own hounds because he dared to eavesdrop on the virgin goddess Diana and her nymphs bathing in a fountain in the woods. The position of the fountain evokes some spatial depth but the rest of the background remains flat. The tragic story of Pyramus and Thisbe is the subject of the following segment. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, book IV, 55- 166, tell the tragic story of the forbidden love of a young couple who arranged to meet outside the city walls, with fatal result.396 The berries of the tree under which they died took their red colour from their blood. The scene depicted shows the dead couple lying one upon the other under a tree. The fatal lion, here depicted as a Bengal tiger, is calmly drinking water out of a spring. In the upper part of the segment a maid approaches and discovers the united lovers. The inscription is almost correct and states: PIRAMO-TsbE. An attempt was made to render the walls of the fountain in perspective. The embroiderer probably did not understand the concept of perspective he saw in the European print serving as a model here. The fourth episode illustrates nude women again, a motif which was very popular on the colchas. A shepherd stands under a tree in the midst of his herd; he holds an apple in his hand. The three nude women are identified by the inscription as PALAS-IUNUS-VENUS (Pallas Athena/Minerva, Juno and Venus). The same ladies, this time dressed, are also seen above the tree. It is the Judgement of Paris whose inconsiderate choice initiated the Trojan War, probably from Ovid’s Heroides, book XVI, 51-88, although this story was, as most others on the colchas, narrated by other authors too.397 Lavish vine scrolls sprouting flowers extend in the space between the quarter-circles and the circular centre, grotesque figures secure them. A flower vase marks all four sides, male peacocks – all strictly symmetrical in position – are integrated into the field. The central circle is subdivided by zigzag lines in four registers. Elaborate scrolls fill the outermost register with hunters on elephants and horses and their prey in the form of deer, rabbits, cows and birds. The next register is filled with vine scrolls sprouting leaves with grotesque figures. A woman wearing a warrior helmet stands in the centre, a sword in her right hand and a pair of scales in her left. Her upper body is nude. The inscription identifies her as personification of Justice or IUSTICA as it is written in Portuguese, thus hinting at the market this colcha was actually produced for. Cesare Ripa interprets the crowned iustice inviolable as the queen of virtue, weighing good and evil and if necessary punishing with the sword.398 Justice is often accompanied by a dog and a snake, but on the colcha she is surrounded by flowers instead. The idiosyncratic combination of different elements raises the question of a coherent meaning. The four mythological episodes in the middle field show the dangers of reckless love (death, war, loss of reason) and were very popular in Europe for centuries. Ovid is 396 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 962. 397 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 821. 398 Ripa, 1681, part I., p. 56.

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among the authors, who retell these famous stories. In two of the episodes (Actaeon and Paris) a judgement is pronounced. In the first case it is the judgement of a goddess, Diana, which therefore cannot be valued by human beings. In Paris’s case, an unwise decision is made with grave consequences. The central personification of Justice seems to evaluate the individual mythological stories. The courtly scenes in the borders join the dominating Justice as striking features: the hunts and fights, the processions and games, illustrating diverse activities and aspects of daily life, also including fantastic features. The mythological scenes stress the erudition of the colcha’s owner but at the same time warn him or her of the dangers of love in showing the fatal curiosity of Actaeon, the blindness of Hercules, the passion of Pyramus and the thoughtlessness of Paris. While the middle field is dedicated to the sphere of myths, the medallions in the border depict contemporary couples, who seem to reflect the luxurious milieu of the potential consumers of the colcha. The rich floral vine scrolls place the stories in an otherworldly setting alluding to concepts of paradise and abundance. The secular programme indicates its use in an elegant indoor context, where it was probably hung on a wall and perhaps used as a conversation piece. With such a programme the colcha was probably destined to be part of a bridal trousseau or an evocative wedding gift to newly weds.

5. BLUE COLCHA – PROTOTYPE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, second half sixteenth century 265 x 235.5 cm Embroidered with naturally yellow tussar silk in chain stitch on a blue tabby weave silk foundation. This colour contrast (yellow embroidery on blue foundation) affords an easier understanding of the decorative scheme, making the embroidery perfectly distinguishable. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4593 tec

The colcha is an example of the first phase (See colour plate 2). Stylistically it fits into the group characterised by compact forms. It features a strictly symmetrical organisation, two borders, separated by guard stripes of finely undulating vine scrolls. Its blue foundation is unusual but not exceptional. Only one colcha of this group survives in Sweden with a red silk foundation in the middle field and a yellow foundation in the border.399 Four circle segments mark the corners of the middle field, presided over by a central square shape modified by circular indentations and extensions on each side. In its centre is a circle with an elaborate rosette showing four flame-shaped scrolls. Outside this geometrical construction are interlaced joints with a double zigzag line pattern connecting it to the borders and 399 Geijer, 1951, p. 120, no. 121.

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prolongations in the form of poplars. The pattern scheme of the colcha is filled with extremely stylized vine scrolls swirling towards a central leaf or flower and sprouting delicate branches. They are rendered very flat, the repeated pattern giving the textile a regular rhythm. Reference has been made above to the similarity of these vine scrolls to those found at the Adina Mosque built in the second half of the fourteenth century. This closeness in design between sultanate architecture and textile design further strengthens the hypothesis that early colcha production was linked to the production for the court of the Bengal Sultans.

6. COLCHA – PROTOTYPE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, second half sixteenth century 275 x 216 cm Embroidered with undyed yellow tussar silk in chain stitch on an undyed white tabby weave cotton foundation Bayerisches National Museum, Munich, Inv. 11–271

The main difference between this and the former colcha is the circular centre. Its layout is similar but it is almost square in shape, since it was cut on both sides probably to adapt it to a new use. 400 The foundation material is undyed white cotton embroidered in chain stitch with yellow tussar silk, giving only a weak contrast characteristic of most Bengal colchas. In order to cover a hole, a piece of cotton was sewn in the middle field. This and its almost square shape may indicate its former use as a tablecloth. A very similar decoration to the blue colcha (cat. no. 5) discussed above covers the textile in the two outer borders and the middle field, whereby the characteristic, spiralling vine scrolls are somewhat denser and more elaborate. The decorative scheme here is divided in a slightly different way: the circle segments of each corner of the middle field are connected on upper and lower sides by fine undulating vine scrolls; between them poplar shapes emerge on each side and are connected to a generous circular centre. The circular centre has two registers and is decorated with elaborate rosette and fine guard stripes that extend to the framing border of the middle field, forming a semi circle. The dominating element is the octofoil star rosette in the centre, which multiplies in the second register into sixteen lobes. Colchas similar to those of the first phase are today in the private collection of Francesca Galloway, Palazzo Sforzesco in Milan, Skokloster Castle in Sweden401 and in the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna. 400 The textile comes from an Austrian castle and was donated to the Museum by Elisabeth von Lipperheide-Münster in 1911. 401 Geijer, 1951, p. 120, no. 122.

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6. Colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, second half sixteenth century; Bayerisches National Museum, Munich, Inv. 11–271

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Representing the colchas of the second phase of the compact group are the following two pieces with an angular centre from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 7) and the Cleveland Museum of Art (cat. no. 8), and another with a circular centre layout from the Museu Nacional do Traje in Lisbon (cat. no. 9).402 These textiles illustrate the gradual integration of European elements into the Bengal design. This process was most probably initiated with the settling of Portuguese private merchants in Hugli around 1580.

7. COLCHA WITH PELICAN – SECOND PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, after 1580, early seventeenth century 251 x 198 cm White cotton ground with tassah silk embroidery in chain stitch, fringes in silk surround the colcha Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2282 tec403

The pelican colcha is very close to the prototypes with an angular centre solution and displays polychrome (red, yellow and bluish green) embroidery with tussar silk against a naturally white cotton background, producing a fine contrast (See colour plate 3). Traces of the preparation drawing can be distinguished underneath the embroidery. The technical execution of the piece is not as delicate as the colchas discussed previously. The rhythm of the textile derives from its colours rather than the structure of the embroidery. The layout including the flat spiralling vine scrolls remains very similar to the blue colcha discussed previously (cat. no. 5). New features are the pelican opening its breast to feed its brood with its blood set into the angular centre, four crowned double-headed eagles with open wings embroidered into the circular segments in the corners of the middle field, and four lions placed into the corners of the outer border. These motifs were very common in Portuguese colonial art of that time and can be found on various other substrates such as small scale furniture, trays, and ecclesiastic silver work.404 With the introduction of these pictorial elements the colchas are given a defined orientation, the central self-sacrificing pelican indicates how the colcha should be hung or spread out and oriented on viewpoint. The original models were adapted in a very simplified way. Stylistically the figures seem somewhat awkward with their massively scaled bodies compared to their small heads and wings. The double-headed eagle is an age-old symbol, used in ancient Indian Gandaran tem402 Two more colchas are in the Kunstindustrimuseet in Copenhagen, and a private collection in Porto (Portugal). 403 See also: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=247111 (consulted 9.10.2012) 404 In the private collection in Porto the author came across a similar colcha with a brown foundation and coloured embroidery. The centre of that piece was accentuated by a double-headed eagle.

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ples as well as in early modern European heraldry. Like the lion, the eagle is one of the omnipresent topoi of strength and power in secular and sacred contexts throughout the Eurasian continent.405 Since it is crowned in the colcha, an attribution to the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire then dominated by the Habsburgs is not certain but remains a very plausible assumption. Even more so since in the famous entry of King Philip III into Lisbon in 1619, the arch of the Germans was prominently decorated with a crowned double-headed eagle.406 This interpretation indicates that the colcha was produced after 1580 when Portugal lost its independence, and Philip II became King of Spain and Portugal. His father Charles V never managed to secure the imperial crown for his son and it remained in the Austrian branch of the Habsburg family. What the crowned double-headed eagle here might stand for, apart from strength and power, are the combined dominions of the Casa de Austria, the Habsburgs, which from 1580 to 1640 included Portugal and its overseas possessions, hence also the Estado da Índia. The double-headed eagle should be interpreted within this more general context of imperial Habsburg power and strength. Apart from the religious interpretation, the symbols of the self-sacrificing pelican and the crowned double-headed eagle stand for two dynasties, the Avis and the Habsburgs, and combine the secular and sacred element of expansion, perhaps indicating the latter’s right to rule over Portugal. The colcha represents subtle pro-Habsburg propaganda, for it places this dynasty’s symbol, the crowned double-headed eagle, next to the symbol of the then extinct Avis, the pelican. It is notable however that the pelican is more prominently placed than the eagle. This and other colchas showing similar iconography could be used in a secular as well as religious context, during a procession for example, and in Catholic missions in Asia. It illustrated the combined secular and sacred power of the Portuguese or rather Portugese-Spanish rulers over their overseas possessions. From the discussion hitherto, it becomes clear that the earliest European models to be introduced to Bengal were fauna that manifested religious and political dominance, in this case that of the rulers of Portugal.

8. SOLOMON COLCHA – SECOND PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, after 1580, early seventeenth century 271 x 223 cm Brown cotton ground with polychrome silk embroidery in chain stitch Cleveland Museum of Art, Inv. 1969.295

The colcha with an angular centre has a dark-brown cotton foundation embroidered with red, yellow and undyed white tussar silk surrounded by fringes in the same colours (See 405 Kretschmer, 2011, pp. 20-23. 406 Lavanha, 1622, p. 55.

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colour plate 4). If the state of stylistic development accounts for the dating, this colcha is among the earliest pieces depicting the Judgement of King Solomon in the centre, the position of the king giving the colcha vertical alignment. Its layout is again similar to the blue colcha of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 5); two borders surround the geometrically subdivided centre. The flat spiralling vine scrolls are depicted in white with accentuated blossoms in yellow and red. Lions inhabit the corners of the first border as guardians, each lifting one of its paws. Four scenes from antique mythology decorate the corners of the second border. These are repeated on many other colchas in different combinations. Depicted on top are Hero und Leander, the two tragic lovers of Greek mythology narrated by Ovid in Heroides, 18, 19: the chosen moment is when Hero sees the body of her lover washed ashore and commits suicide by throwing herself from the tower.407 It is a quite simple composition: Hero, dressed in red, is falling out of the window, while Leander, all in white, is lying on the shore or floating in the water. Very similar representations of this theme are found for instance in contemporary Italian majolica plates that probably draw their inspiration from similar prints. In the next field at the top there is a white female figure riding a red dragon, very similar to an allegory of female beauty from Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia.408 Blowing a horn, she is probably a Nereid riding a sea monster, a representation originating in Roman Antiquity.409 She is accompanied by birds and, quite unusual, a winged deer. The motif of a figure riding an animal is not unknown in India since Hindu gods are often depicted riding on their animal mounts. The embroiderer might have thought of a Hindu god when he executed this scene. Another female figure is standing on a dolphin in the next section. She holds a sail in her hand. Very similar female figures are found on contemporary Chinese porcelain made after European models. Depending on the cultural background of the viewer, the figure could be interpreted as the Indian goddess Ganga, Roman Nereid (perhaps Amphitrite, wife of Neptune) or, most plausible in the context of European maritime expansion, an allegory of Fortuna or Aires mistress of the winds. As such, she features on several book editions linked to the Portuguese expansion. Other interpretations saw her as Manu, the Indian Noah, or the biblical figure Jonas.410 Through comparison with the same figure on other colchas, it is clear that it is a woman riding the dolphin and not a man. Hence the last two interpretations can be excluded. Hercules, the paradigmatic hero of Antiquity, fills the last section below. Dressed in a lion skin and holding a club in his hands he fights the dragon that guards the apples of the 407 408 409 410

Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 573. Ripa, 1681, part I., p. 29. See for example the Nereid in the Museo Nazionale Archeologico di Napoli, Inv. 145070 and 145080. Irwin, 1952; Irwin, 1957; Irwin, 1959.

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Hesperides, his eleventh labour.411 Hercules is the most popular hero of antique mythology and is depicted on almost all colchas of the Solomon group. Hercules’s fight with the dragon is a fight of good against evil and can be set in parallel with Christ or the archangel Michael. Hercules, the son of Jupiter born of a mortal mother, like Christ, enters the divine pantheon after his death. One of the favourite models of sixteenth century European rulers, he is the prototype of the travelling adventurer who challenges his own fate.412 As such he is also an ideal role model for European sailors and soldiers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries leaving their home countries in order to find riches and adventures in foreign countries. There is a striking thematic parallel between the colchas and a lacquer chest that was attributed to Bengal.413 Within the decorative arts commissioned by the Portuguese in their overseas dominions these chests, apart from the colchas, are the only ones showing scenes from Roman mythology. The inner side of one of these lacquer boxes shows the fight of Hercules against the Lernean Hydra and another chest depicts a blindfolded Cupid. These two subjects are shown on the Bengal colchas as well. Moreover, the vine scrolls on the chests are stylistically very close to those of the colchas. This strengthens Pedro Moura Carvalho’s hypothesis that the textiles and the lacquer chests were not only produced at around the same time but also, very probably, in the same region. The greatest changes in the iconography of the colcha as compared to the former pieces were introduced into the middle field: The four circle segments in the corners of the middle field are filled with the apocryphal Old Testament story of Judith and Holofernes. Judith is the heroine of the Jewish people in their fight against the evil embodied by the Babylonian general Holofernes, whom she kills with cunning. Judith’s deed should not be evaluated by Christian moral standards. It has to be seen in the context of the Old Testament and Antiquity in general, when such a deception of the enemy was an accepted strategy of war. She is in this case the female counterpart to Hercules; her moral power has been compared to his physical force.414 Judith was also seen as a model for the Virgin Mary because of her chastity and strength. Under the cross Mary recognises that the death of her son is as important for humanity as was the death of Holofernes for the Jewish people. Judith is with David and others, one of the saviours of Israel and the Old Testament counterpart of Mary: Judith defeats Holofernes, Mary defeats the devil.415 Her victory is the model for the victory of the ecclesia over the Antichrist.416 The story was very popular in early modern Europe, also, to be sure, because of its erotic implications.417 Judith is simply the most prominently 411 412 413 414 415 416 417

Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 548, 549. See for example: Panofsky, 1930; Orgel, 1984, pp. 25–47; Bull, 2005, pp. 86–140. Moura Carvalho, 2000, pp. 135. Tervarent, 1958, p. 210 ; in detail: Uppenkamp, 2004. Kirschbaum/ Bandmann/Braunfels, 1968–1972, vol. 3, pp. 154–210 and pp. 454–458. Kirschbaum/ Bandmann/Braunfels, 1968–1972, pp. 154–210 and pp. 454–458. For example by Donatello, Andrea Mantegna and Artemisia Gentileschi.

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placed and most frequently used model woman in the colchas. As will be explained later, several other model woman take important positions within the programme, the Virgin Mary being one of them. Others are from Greek and Roman mythology such as the mortals Penelope, Lucretia, Polyxena, Thisbe and Hero and the goddess Diana. While the goddess punishes, in most other cases the self-sacrifice of the women is in the foreground. Beginning with Bocaccio’s De mulieribus claris, first published in 1374, biographies of women became popular. One example from the Iberian Peninsula is Alvaro de Luna’s Libro de las virtuosas e´claras mujeres, from the first half of the fifteenth century which includes the biographies of Judith, Lucretia, Diana, Polyxena and Penelope.418 It is very plausible that texts like this were widely used in female education and also circulated in India. The Old Testament dedicates an entire book to Judith; four images illustrate the Judith story on the colcha. The scenes start on the upper left of the middle field with the soldiers of the Babylonian army marching towards Bethulia and continue counter-clockwise. A group of soldiers in European costume carrying lances and shields dominate the first segment. They represent merely a fraction of the whole army and the few soldiers are the pars pro toto for the rest. One of the men is holding a flag, another is drumming and a third is blowing a horn. The army is preparing for the attack. All men are shown alternately in white and red and in three-quarter profile. Some birds fly above them. The next segment shows Judith and her – not one but two – maids in front of the enthroned Holofernes. The composition of the scene is almost the same as the Solomon judgement scene, which will be discussed in the following. Holofernes, dressed all in red stressing his role as aggressor, sits on a chair on a stage under a canopy, a servant behind him. The abridged city architecture of Bethulia stretches out above him. The ladies are standing serenely in front of him. Judith is dressed in soft white, and her gestures indicate that she is talking to the general. The following segment portrays the decapitation of Holofernes. A striped tent on a stage and an outline of the city architecture forms the background of the scene. Judith, now dressed in aggressive red, has already committed the bloody deed; the sword is in her right hand and with her left she holds out the white head of the general to one of her maids, who puts it into a basket. The invented second maid is sitting next to Judith behind the dead body. The tent is surrounded by lances, a soldier and part of a horse; signs that show that danger is present. The last scene of the series shows the presentation of the decapitated head of Holofernes to his army. In her moment of triumph, Judith, again in white, is standing on one of the towers of the city wall with the head in her hand, showing it to his demoralised army, subsequently defeated by the Israelites. The compositional design of all mythological and Judith scenes rarely changes in the later Solomon colchas. Occasionally more details are added, and the execution is more delicate, but the models used remain almost without ex418 Menéndez y Pelayo, 1891, pp. 41–48, 110–120, 232, 259, 264–266.

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ception the same during the whole period, demonstrating the success of their motifs and indicating that only a narrow selection of models were available in situ. Two double-tailed mermaids provide static support at the angular centre of the colcha. They can be likened to mythological Sirens and personify the Ulyssean dangers of the sea, accordingly they are often shown on depictions of the sea during the sixteenth century. In the context of Portuguese expansion and its artistic and literary production, they not only represent the hazards of travelling by ship but in a way compare the Portuguese navigators to Ulysses. Two further semicircles are placed between the corner segments on the vertical axis. They are of special interest because their content is iconographically very successful later on. Placed beneath the angular centre between the reception and the decapitation scene of Judith and Holofernes is a female bust between sun, moon and stars. Comparison with similar depictions on other colchas identifies her as the Virgin Mary accompanied by sun, moon and stars. On some colchas she wears a crown. The surrounding elements are clear indicators for this attribution. In art, the sun and moon often surround Christ at the moment of his death, indicating the participation of the whole cosmos. The moon is generally seen in connection with the Virgin, Christ represents the sun. 419 On this colcha they are to the left and the right of the Virgin. On later colchas she is additionally accompanied by a self-sacrificing pelican, the symbol of her son as well as the Avis dynasty. In the semicircle above the angular centre animals feed out of one trough and a snake floats in the air above them. This scene and also the Virgin are depicted upside down, which illustrates that the embroiderers were still quite unfamiliar with the introduction of figural decorum and its placing. Two deer are discernable that on other colchas are unicorns, and two smaller animals, perhaps rabbits. In a comparable context concerning an Indian table from Ambras castle, it was suggested that such a scene represents the peace amongst the animals, which would fit well into the programme, but the carnivores are missing on the colcha.420 The snake and its position in the composition appear awkward in this context. It is possible that the animals and the snake are linked to the topos of the paradisiacal fountain of life and of paradise with a memento mori illustrated by the snake as serpent and alluding to Original Sin. Such symbols of paradisiacal abundance were used in East and West in medieval textile designs and in the decoration of art objects, they did not change significantly with time. It is quite unique to see the fountain of life in combination with the snake. This feature may derive from the combination of two different printed models and proved successful in the context of the Solomon colchas while the exact meaning was blurred. Between the geometric structures the middle field is covered with flat white vine scrolls with flowers in two colours. The composition is strictly symmetrical; the proportions are simple and clear, but not as exact as if measured with a ruler. The angular centre consists 419 Kirschbaum/ Bandmann/Braunfels, 1968–1972, vol. 3, p. 279. 420 Similar in: Neuwirth, 1998, pp. 114 – 125.

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of a rectangle with semi-circular extensions on each side. Within we see the Judgement of King Solomon, illustrating his royal justice and wisdom, as narrated in the Book of Kings. The theme of the king’s judgement was very popular in Europe during the sixteenth century. Together with Hercules, Solomon was one of the most popular models for European princes. The scene on the colcha is set on a stage resembling the scene of Holofernes receiving Judith. Solomon sits on a throne, a servant behind him; the two women and the soldier with a sword throwing the child into the air are in front of him. The good mother in white is lying on the floor, and the cradle of the child is just above her head. An abbreviated architectural view of Jerusalem creates the background for the whole composition. As in the other colchas, all figures are depicted in European costume. King Solomon’s reign was considered to be the Golden Age of Jewish dominance over Palestine. The most important trade routes between East and West led through his country. Contacts to India were already established by then. Solomon’s wisdom was proverbial and manifested in the judgement of the two women. He was a poet and musician, and his sumptuous court life was renowned. He was said to have special talents, such as understanding the language of all animals and he reigned over all creatures of the world, including the spirits.421 His throne was seen as sedes sapientiae, the king was represented as rex iustus. There are many descriptions of his resplendently decorated throne. Six steps lead up to his throne, eagles or sheep and tamed lions are facing each other on these steps illustrating his infinite justice. The whole throne construction was made of gold and was encrusted with precious stones and birds were flying round it.422 Solomon was a model ruler in the Christian as well as the Islamic world, and as such an intercultural figure of identification. King Emanuel of Portugal was represented as Solomon the law giver in the Ordenações manuelinas, an important legal compendium.423 The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan created a Solomonic concept in his throne architecture in the Red Fort in Delhi.424 Jahangir too compared himself with Solomon in his memoirs.425 Most importantly in the context of colchas, Philip II of Spain was celebrated as and compared to Solomon throughout his life, his father being likened to King David. Bearing the title of King of Jerusalem, the most important building Philip II commissioned, the Escorial, was hailed as a new Solomonic temple.426 This and the following colcha illustrate that the complex biblical and mythological themes were introduced in the second phase. So were the most important features characteristic of the Solomon colchas: the central topic of the Judgement of Solomon, the fights between good and evil (Judith and Hercules), the Virgin Mary stressing the Christian part, and the scenes from Roman mythology. As it develops, the iconography of these specific 421 422 423 424 425 426

Singer (ed.), 1905, p. 440. Singer (ed.), 1905, p. 441. Dias, 2002. Koch, 1988. Thackston (ed.), 1999, p. 264. Cuadra Blanco, 2005, pp. 169–180.

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colchas becomes more complex and is discussed in detail later. Given the orientation on the vertical axis and the dense narrative programme of all known Solomon colchas they were most probably used as hangings.

9. SOLOMON COLCHA – SECOND PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, after 1580, early seventeenth century 270 x 225 cm Undyed white cotton foundation and yellow chain stitch embroidery with tussar silk Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14409

This colcha is a second example demonstrating the first stage of development of the Solomon colchas. It is the only known Solomon colcha with a circular centre solution comparable to the colcha of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (cat. no. 6). This colcha features the characteristic Bengal coloration (white foundation and yellow embroidery) and shows an 9a. Sketch Solomon colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth century, from 1580 onwards, early seventeenth century; Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14409; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Animals feeding out of one trough, 3. Virgin Mary, 4. Judith and Holofernes, 5. Mermaids, 6. Lion

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9b. Detail judgement of Solomon

9c. Detail Virgin Mary with sun and moon

even stronger influence of European elements. Heraldic lions and small birds are set into the outermost corners of the border, and the story of Judith and Holofernes of the Old Testament encompasses the four circle segments in the corners of the middle field. The usual flat vine scrolls fill the spaces between the well defined figural representations. Between the heroic Judith story are again small semicircles with a representation of the Virgin Mary and the sun and the moon above. Beneath them animals feed out of one trough and a snake is set above them. It is notable that the snake is not winged. The wings seem to be a later invention and are added on in almost all later representations of this specific scene. Mermaids are placed at both sides of the circular centre. The latter consists of two circles and shows the Judgement of King Solomon accompanied by eight surrounding mermaids. These fantastical courtly attendants play musical instruments – lutes, drums, lyres and a kind of flute – and are placed around the judgement scene. The musicians embody the harmonious element in the iconography and in the just rule of the king. In terms of composition the scenes depicted are almost the same as those seen previously, but because the narratives from antique mythology are lacking, all attention is drawn to the central figure of the just King.

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There are similar colchas of this phase in a private collection in Porto and in the Kunstindustrimuseet in Copenhagen.427 The colchas of the second phase can be dated roughly between 1580 and the early seventeenth century. As pointed out before, Portuguese inventories of the time mention colchas of different qualities with different prices. Even though the colchas represent an early development of colcha production, given their cruder execution, they were probably produced also later on for a more modest clientele and surely cost less than the elaborate colchas, which are dated later here and represent a further step in development.

The embroiderers and/or commissioners of the colchas experimented with imported and local motifs. The following two textiles serve to illustrate the variety of Bengal colchas in the period of transition from the second phase to the third phase. The examples chosen combine elements of the different groups of Bengal colchas. Their basic organisation and iconography evolved and became more complex in comparison to the pieces discussed so far. They are cruder in execution than most Bengali embroideries and therefore cost less than the sumptuous pieces. Showing considerable influence of European motifs, they represent a further step towards the more complex, later Solomon colchas. These two colchas are not only quite crude in style and execution but also – perhaps because of this – even less defined in iconography. They were most likely used in a secular context.

10. COLCHA – SECOND PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century 238 x 179 cm Yellow tussar silk embroidery in chain stitch and backstitch on an undyed white cotton. It includes no fringes which were often added later in different types of silk. Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14414

In this colcha three borders surround the rectangular middle field. The decoration is somewhat reminiscent of the elegant hunting colcha of the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna (cat. no. 1), but much simplified. The first border consists of a grid pattern including four leaved flowers. The second border is regularly quilted and a few small animals are placed into it at regular intervals. It is accentuated by eight medallions, four in the corners and four in the middle of each side; these are inhabited by couples, either two men or a man and a woman facing each other. The medallions with figures inside may have taken their inspiration from gaming pieces. During the long journey at sea, the passengers entertained themselves with small theatre productions and games, among them board games. 427 See: Garde, 1970; colcha: Inv. 57/1969.

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10a. Sketch colcha, Bengal/ Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century; Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14414; 1. Men on platform, 2. Hunting scenes, 3. Different scenes with figures, 4. Scrollwork, 5. Diverse couples, 6. Geometric pattern with animals, 7. Geometric pattern

10c. Detail corner segment

The gaming pieces of some of the more luxurious of these were often decorated with small figures.428 The third border includes vine scrolls in square units that are executed in a slightly different style from the flat scrolls of the prototypes. 428 See catalogue: Vienna, 1998. Less exclusive games probably made it to India.

10. Colcha – Second Phase, Compact Group

10b. Detail middle field

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The crude style of the colcha renders the iconography of the middle field indecipherable. It seems that the embroiderers mixed elements without considering iconographic meaning. The repeating figures depicted are Europeans. Circle segments are placed in the corners of the middle field featuring an angular centre, comparable to the blue colcha of the first phase (cat no. 5). The most elegant details of the colcha are situated above and below the centre solution of the middle field between the quarter-circles: two figures are depicted under a vaulted tent-like building. At the sides the angular centre is secured by two semicircles where a man and his dog are shown. Instead of the usual flat vine scrolls, there is a hunting party in the space between the circle segments and the centre. The angular centre with its circular indentations and extensions is further subdivided into two trapezoidal forms above a square field. Two figures are represented in each of the trapezoidal forms, above which are a man and a woman with a winged snake – or is it just a scroll? Two gesticulating male figures are placed some distance away. A vine scroll with lions in the corners surrounds the central square, a decoration scheme very similar to the later Solomon colchas. This square is further divided into three registers: in the lower part soldiers with lances as guardians, in the upper part three roofs of houses of a city. In between these two squares two men are sitting in courtly Indian manner on a raised plat-

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form; next to them stands a servant with a large tear-shaped sunshade on a long stick. This type of fan was a symbol of distinction and often seen on Mughal album painting. The two men may be two highly ranked dignitaries at some Indian court or two Portuguese that adapted local manners. Except for precious metals, canons, some small luxury items and decent wine, the Portuguese arrived with little that could impress the local Indian rulers. In order to be accepted as equals they attempted to adjust to some local ideas of representation.429 Competition was only one reason for the sumptuous life of the Portuguese upper classes in the Estado da Índia. In Bengal, a region so far away from the official centre of the Estado, Europeans adjusted even more promptly to Indian customs, often by marrying local women.430 However, hardly anything is known about their ways of showing prestige. As stated before, colchas like this one were destined for less wealthy consumers. Their mixing of local Indian and foreign elements obscures their detailed contents.

11. COLCHA – SECOND PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century 328 x 258 cm Yellow tussar silk in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on undyed white cotton foundation Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4582431

Four borders surround the rectangular middle field in this textile. Running deer and other fauna are embroidered in two registers and alternate with not very elaborate flowers in the outermost border. The four corners are accentuated by male figures. The second border is decorated with thick vine scrolls sprouting flower buds, comparable to those of the former colcha. Crowned aquarii are placed into the corners and female figures in medallions are depicted in the middle of each side. The third border depicts maritime scenes, with sea monsters, centaurs, large fishes and ships; motifs which are also very popular in later or parallel colchas. Cruciform blossoms adorn the last border in each corner, with fighters on horseback confronting each other in the remainder of the border. The rectangular middle field is intersected by two lines in the upper and the lower part, producing a square centre with a circle. Cornucopias fill the longitudinal rectangles on the vertical axis. The central circle in two registers is surrounded by pointed vegetal elements recalling the top of palm 429 Best illustrated in the anonymous painted manuscript: Codex 1889 of the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome, c. 1550. 430 Bluth (ed.) 1966. Francesco Carletti provides amusing insight into Goan society in his chapter on Goa. 431 See: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=247556 (consulted 10.9.2012). Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. Natural yellow of the tussar silk, no dye.

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11. Colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4582

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trees or pineapple leaves, a fruit introduced to India by the Portuguese. Gazelles are in the outer register of this circle and a majestic eagle is in the centre. It could be interpreted as a symbol for royalty or as a symbol of the Resurrection – a secular connotation is more probable.432 The structure of the all-over organisation of this colcha is reminiscent of frontispieces of Quran manuscripts. A similar basic organisation is characteristic of the Bengal colchas of the red group (cat. nos. 28, 29).

At this point the development of the circular-centre colchas will be followed and described separately. It is remarkable that iconographically the two schemes (circular and angular) evolved in very different ways. With the exception of the early Solomon colcha of the Museu Nacional do Traje (cat. no. 9), all the other known Solomon colchas have an angular centre. Furthermore, the colchas with an angular centre are more coherent and complex in iconography and style than colchas with a circular centre. The basic layout of the colchas does not develop significantly in either of the two groups. It is mainly the iconographic content, the style of scrolls and border decoration of the colchas that change over time. This provides a stable element in these colchas: the basic organisation. The forms and motifs filling the given layout of the textiles represent the flexible element. The discussion launches out with the colchas of the second phase, providing an example from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 12), and subsequently follows the development by studying colchas from the Tokugawa collection in Japan (cat. no. 13) and Colonial Williamsburg (cat. no. 14), finally ending with the textile from the Iparmüveszeti Museum in Budapest (cat. no. 15). The colchas are stylistically related to the Solomon group.433 The first two examples to be discussed are very similar and seem to represent an average production quality. Their layout and decoration remain largely the same; only the addition and substitution of motifs change their interpretation and thus the contexts in which they may have been used. The other two colchas illustrate a more evolved step in the production of this group. One characteristic is the use of cornucopia in the decoration, which are part of many – not all – colchas.

432 Kretschmer, 2011, pp.20-23. 433 In addition to the colchas discussed in this chapter, the Kunsthandwerk Museum in Frankfurt am Main (Inv. 5872, PL.1081), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.76.99) and the Musée Guimet (Inv. 5702 and 3930) possess colchas that are part of this group. For the latter see catalogue : Bordeaux 1998, 1998, p. 104.

12. Colcha with Circular Centre – Second Phase, Compact Group

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Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century 328 x 267 cm Worked with chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch in yellow tussar silk on undyed white cotton foundation Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2281434

The layout of this colcha remains largely the same as before: three borders surround a rectangular middle field with circle segments in its corners and a circular centre. Narrow bands featuring aligned blossoms subdivide the structure. The outermost border is decorated partly with animals and partly with vine scrolls extending from the corners, which are each accentuated by a hunter. The vine scrolls sprouting flowers on the second border are comparable to those of the coarse colchas (cat. nos. 10, 11). Medallions with figures accentuate the four corners, they show two men and two women in European costume. The third border is almost a repetition of the first. The quarter-circles in the corners of the middle field are framed by two interlaced giant snakes, which is especially interesting because similar decorative elements are found in Hindu architecture and also for instance in the Mughal palace architecture of Fathepur Sikri. Enormous apotropaic peacocks stand above the snakes and peck at their tails. The snakes in turn are about to devour human beings, most of them musicians playing instruments of different origins. The scenes depicted in the quarter circles of the middle field are again mythological episodes, this time not defined by inscriptions. Compared to the elegant colcha roxa the scenes were simplified by the craftsmen. But the similarity of some depictions on this colcha to those on the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4) suggests the same models were used, thus a close connection between the workshops. On the upper right side are two episodes of the story of Judith and Holofernes in one segment: the decapitation of the general in the tent, and the presentation of the cut-off head to his soldiers. Judith, seemingly exulting in the outcome of her deed, is holding a cup in her hand, and behind her is a bottle of wine, quite an exclusive drink in India and asuccessful import of the Portuguese. A fascinating detail is the archer riding on a horse and aiming his arrow at the head of the defeated general presented on a lance. This is an act of final defeat. A very similar final defeat is depicted on a Mughal album painting in the Freer Gallery showing Jahangir aiming an arrow at the already decapitated head, also impaled on the lance of his arch-enemy Malik Ambar.435 This hints at some kind 434 See also: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=247181 (consulted 10.9.2012). Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. Natural yellow of the tussar silk. Only degradation product identified. 435 See: Thackston (ed.), 1999, p. 165.

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12. Colcha with circular centre, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2281

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of relationship between Portuguese and Mughal art production and shows how similar the perceptions of defeat were depicted in two different media, and how these concepts were combined in the colchas: the story is from the Old Testament but the modes of depiction suggest a fusion of European and Mughal Indian concepts. In the segment below tho the right a man stands before three women, recalling the Judgement of Paris (compare cat. no. 4). The man with his long crook looks quite pastoral, his sheep are shown above him together with another archer, who in this case merely serves to fill space rather than relate to the narrative. Another scene in the segment below to the left illustrates the tragic love story of Hero and Leander, already encountered on the Cleveland colcha (cat. no. 8) of the second, adapting phase. There is more space to add some details here, such as the maid standing behind Hero, and the man next to the drowned Leander. The last quarter segment is devoted to the Actaeon story in two narrative blocks. Below, the hunter is standing, meanwhile his lifeless body is lying on the ground above this; the goddess Diana has taken revenge. She and her consorts assume the same position. The fountain in which they are standing is decorated with a mask; the women are showered with water from above just as in the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4). Above and below the central medallion and between the quarter-circles on each side richly filled cornucopias are growing out of a small vase, alluding to the abundance of the intercultural tree of life motif. Next to them are vegetal scrolls, peacocks and some hunters. The central circle is surrounded by a garland and its outer border shows deer and beasts of prey. In the other border four men on horseback alternate with flowers. The self-sacrificing pelican with its brood, one of the most widely spread Christian symbols of the Portuguese Asian expansion, is again placed into the centre and may again be read in the context of Avis/Habsburg dominance over Portuguese Asia. The mythological scenes lend credence to a secular use, perhaps as part of a bridal trousseau. The iconography is associative rather than concrete and should be read allegorically; the mythological elements warn of the dangers of love, the biblical allude to the punishment of evil.

13. COLCHA WITH CIRCULAR CENTRE – SECOND PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century, before 1639 317 x 264,5 cm Worked with chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch in yellow tussar silk on undyed white cotton foundation Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya

This colcha is very similar in colour, layout, style and decoration to the one just discussed.436 The most striking difference occurs in the central circle. Instead of the pelican 436 Published in: Guy, 1998, p. 165; Tokugawa Bijutsukan, 2009, pp. 147–148, no. 102, image p. 89.

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13. Colcha with circular centre, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century, before 1639; Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya

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there is a scene from daily life: a dancing couple, thus suggesting its use in a secular context. By simply replacing the central Christian symbol the basic meaning of the colcha was altered, but since the more general concepts of abundance and paradise persist, it would again make a decent wedding gift. The importance of this colcha lies in its provenance. It is part of the collection of the powerful Tokugawa shogun family, probably arriving there as a gift from the Portuguese before 1639 – a diplomatic selection, a Japanese shogun might not have appreciated a colcha including a Christian symbol. After this date the Portuguese were expelled from the country they had established trade with in the 1540s. These two dates mark a plausible time limit in which the colcha was produced. Given its style, the date of production was around 1600.

14. COLCHA WITH CIRCULAR CENTRE – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century 269 x 223 cm Yellow embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on an undyed white cotton ground Museum of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Inv. 1987–551

The colcha’s former owner is identifiable through a sewn-on inscription: “This Quilt belonged to Catherine Colepepper afterwards Lady Fairfax & matches with the cushions.”437 Catherine Fairfax (1670–1719) was the daughter of Lord Culpeper, who owned vast land possessions in Virginia. She was never in Virginia herself, nor was her colcha, at least not during Mrs Fairfax’s life. In addition to the estates in Virginia, she inherited Leeds Castle in Kent and was thus a suitable wife for Thomas Fairfax the 5th Lord of Fairfax, Colonel of the 3rd regiment of Horse Guards whose family was engaged in trade with Asia. The life dates of Catherine Fairfax provide a terminus ante quem. It is more probable that the textile dates to the first half of the seventeenth century and entered into her possessions through inheritance, probably from the side of Asian connections of her husband’s family.The inscription also mentions matching cushions that were probably also made in Bengal but do not survive today. The fact that the ensemble comprised a colcha and cushions implies it was used to be placed on something, such as a bed or bench with the cushions on top. The inscription “belonged to” suggests that it was written after her death. It is not known how the colcha came into the possession of Catherine Fairfax and later the collection of the textile antiquarian Cora Ginsburg, who presented it to the Museum in Virginia.438 437 The author thanks Ms Linda Baumgarten curator at Colonial Williamsburg who generously provided the documentary material. 438 Documentary material Colonial Williamsburg.

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14a. Colcha with circular centre, Bengal/Hugli region, late sixteenth, early seventeenth century; Museum of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Inv. 1987–551

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14b. Sketch of colcha; 1. Female figure, 2. Mermaids, 3. Hunting scenes, 4. Scrollwork, 5. Peacocks, 6. Scrollwork, 7. Couples or individual figures, 8. Scrollwork, 9. Hunting scenes

The layout of the colcha is almost the same as that of the colchas discussed previously (cat. nos. 12, 13). Narrow bands of aligned blossoms subdivide the three borders around a rectangular middle field and a circular centre, but the decoration differs in important points. The outermost border shows hunting scenes with some fantastic elements such as figures riding dragons. The middle of every side is accentuated by fighting knights and hunters with muskets, riding horses and elephants. Each corner is filled with a hybrid figure, a winged mermaid or Naga. Because of their square structure the simplified spiralling vine scrolls of the second border resemble the coarse colcha from the Museu Nacional do Traje (cat. no. 10); eight medallions decorated with dancing couples (in the corners) and female figures (along the sides) are set into the border. The third border again shows spiralling vine scrolls. The quarter-circles in the corners of the rectangular middle field as well as the central medallion are delineated by narrow garlands. Two affronted peacocks are placed within each segment, also a vase sprouting flowers, readable as tree of life motif. Around the circular centre in the middle of each side are four vases sprouting spiralling vine scrolls. The central medallion is subdivided into three registers: the outermost is decorated with hunting scenes, the middle border with winged mermaids and figures standing on dolphins; they are either fishing or holding a sail up into the air, resembling depictions of Fortuna. A female figure marks the centre of the textile. Her depiction recalls the personification of Justice of the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4), but her attributes are somewhat

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misleading. She is wearing a kind of patchwork skirt and a shirt with wide sleeves. She has a flower in her left hand and a dagger in her right. If the figure represents an allegory, the flower would suggest Abundance, which would fit in well into the programme; the dagger in turn indicates that she represents Justice. A mythological interpretation could identify her as the Roman heroine Lucretia committing suicide after her rape (a theme recounted among other sources by Ovid in Fasti, II, 784-852), or, from a Christian perspective, she might be interpreted as St. Catherine of Alexandria, but the depiction of a female Christian saint would be a unicum in the colcha’s iconography. The embroiderers, probably not knowing the exact meaning of the personifications, combined different attributes and reinterpreted the figure, thus losing her precise meaning. The colcha again combines scenes of the élite class’s daily life with fantastic elements, suggesting a secular use.

15. COLCHA WITH CIRCULAR CENTRE – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first third sixteenth century 263 x 213 cm Embroidery in yellow tussar silk in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on a soiled white cotton ground Iparmüveszeti Muzeum, Budapest, Inv. 89.617.1

The last colcha with circular centre discussed here counts among the stylistically most assured colchas, being very close in style to the Solomon group.439 The white cotton foundation is now very soiled, making the contrast between its ground and embroidery more evident and the individual motifs of the colcha easier to distinguish. The basic layout does not vary significantly from the other colchas. There are only two borders, therefore the middle field is somewhat larger. The outermost border includes elaborate vine scrolls sprouting fantastic flowers and leaves, various animals were added. Four medallions depicting different scenes accentuate the corners; in one of them a man sits on a chair and plays the lute, a dancing woman in front of him. It is not entirely clear what narrative this scene illustrates. The next depicts Hercules in his lion-skin holding three snakes in one hand and a flower or a wand with a solar symbol on top. The snakes may refer to the early childhood of the hero when he killed three of them in his cradle, or to one of his fights against dragons. Another insecurely identifiable scene follows: it seems to be either the Massacre of the Innocents from the New Testament – it would be unique on the colchas – or a detail cut out from the Judgement of Solomon scene – the latter is more probable. There are two soldiers; one of them holds an infant upside down and kills it with his sword; two women are standing un439 There are two more colchas of a similarly high quality as the Budapest colcha in the Royal Ontario Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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15a. Colcha with circular centre, Bengal/Hugli region, first third sixteenth century; Iparmüveszeti Muzeum, Budapest, Inv. 89.617.1

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15b. Sketch colcha; 1. Couple on chairs, 2. Nereid on fish, 3. Hunting scenes, 4. Cornucopia, peacock and hunting scenes, 5. Judgement of Paris, 6. Not identified, 7. Judith and Holofernes, 8. Actaeon, 9. Hunting scenes, 10.– 13. Diverse mythological scenes, 14. Scrollwork

derneath them raising their hands in despair. Hitherto, narrative scenes from the Old Testament alone were to be seen on the colchas, making a New Testament scene very unusual. The medallion at top left is decorated with a rather curious scene depicting a elaborately dressed woman with a sword in her right hand defending herself against a small bear or dog. The second border shows the usual hunting parties organised in small groups, with fantastic scenes of dragons, hybrid creatures, small and large deer, tigers and winged mermaids blowing horns in the corners. The rectangular middle field features a circular centre and circle segments in the corners that are delineated by large man-eating snakes (one of them is even eating an elephant) and giant peacocks that in turn bite into the snake’s tails. The quarter-circles are filled with diverse scenes comparable to the colcha roxa, (cat. no. 4) – probably the same models were used.440 A figure of Actaeon is placed at the lower left. An inscription band in the middle reads AMT(or E)ACO, which is only remotely recognisable as the name Actaeon: a similar error was committed in the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4) where AMTEAM was written. The local embroiderers were with high certainty unable to read and understand the Latin alphabet and 440 And similar to the colcha of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga: tec. 2281.

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simply copied the letters. The three ladies are more robust than in the other colchas. The dome-shaped structure under which they are bathing recalls European Renaissance fountains. Actaeon stands in front of them with his horse and hound; portrayed directly above this is his tragic end. The upper left shows the suffering of another man, Holofernes, who is beheaded by Judith – IUDNC as the inscription says, again not very clearly, but the picture leaves no doubt about the identification. The two most significant scenes from the story are depicted in the same field: first, the decapitation in a fragmentary tent where Holofernes lies almost like a sacrificial lamb on an altar; Judith, next to the tent, holds his bleeding head in her hands. Secondly, at the side again the heroine is standing on a rather narrow tower with the general’s head impaled on the lance. The fighting soldiers above do not seem to be taking any notice of this. To further complicate the programme of the colcha, AMTEAM(O?)IT is written in the inscription band of the next segment. In the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4) these letters are attributed to the story of Actaeon, but not here; the scene is different. A man is lying on a tablelike altar and a woman is standing behind him. The dog next to them takes no notice but chases the bird in the bush next to him, nor does the winged Naga flying above the couple help to clarify the situation. The woman seems to be mourning the death of her consort. This hints at the story of Venus and Adonis, her lover who died during a boar hunt, but this cannot be stated with certainty since no other colcha with such a scene has ever turned up as yet. The last segment on the lower right includes Paris, accompanied by his sheep and judging the three nude women at the side; the inscription: PAS-IUNUS-VE (Pallas Athena/Minerva, Juno and Venus) identifies them. The shepherd leans under the tree and the three ladies facing him look very much like Diana and her consorts in former colchas. Even their gestures are very similar. The space between the corners and the circular centre is filled with giant Indian peacocks standing on the segments again eating the snakes, the large vases with masks and flowers and cornucopias are reminiscent of the tree of life motif. Hunters are interspersed into the vine scrolls. The central medallion is surrounded by a garland of pointed leaves and consists of three registers: the outermost shows a dragon hunt with four hunters and four dragons. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Christian St. George, who fought the dragon in order to free a princess. The second circle includes winged mermaids and women riding on dolphins and, curiously, a centaur. A bucolic couple sitting on chairs under a tree accompanied by servants is placed in the very centre. The exact interpretation of this colcha remains unsolved but has a moralising tone including apotropaic symbols to protect its user. The mythological stories surrounding the central couple remind them of the dangers of love – indicating that this colcha might again be a suitable gift for a newly wed couple. Its dating is parallel to that of the more advanced Solomon colchas.

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16. SOLOMON COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 330 x 280 cm Embroidered with yellow tussar silk on an undyed white cotton foundation in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch; yellow silk fringes Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3692441

The basic layout of the colcha corresponds (See colour plate 5) – with the exception of the quantity of borders – almost exactly to that of the blue prototype of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 5): a central square form modified by circular indentations and extensions presides over the middle field and is connected through semicircles to the borders and circle segments in the corners. The symmetrical scheme remained the same but the decoration changed significantly in style and density. The Judgement of King Solomon is placed in a central rectangle surrounded by a border of compact vine scrolls; the corners of this frame are emphasised by apotropaic dragons as guardians for the king. The crowned king sits enthroned on a chair – a piece of furniture that was hardly known in India. It is placed on a striped stage. A canopy and an outline of the architecture of Jerusalem extend above him. The two women, a servant and the soldiers are placed at his sides. The background features some flowers. The composition of the scene recalls those of the colchas of the second phase, in the Cleveland Museum (cat. no. 8) and the Museu Nacional do Traje (cat. no. 9), suggesting they were made in related workshops. Above and below the central square with Solomon are two trapezoidal forms and semicircles: the upper trapezoid addition shows a pierced heart in the middle, probably associated with the Passion of Christ, and two men approaching it at each side. Peacocks fill the corners. The Christian element is further emphasised by the presence of the Virgin Mary with a moon and sun and the pelican opening its breast just above the field, referring to the dominance of the Avis dynasty and their supposedly rightful successors, the Habsburgs. The pelican and the heart could also refer to the Augustinians active in Bengal, whose symbol is a heart in flames. This latter symbol was used in other propaganda contexts of the Kings of Spain representing their love for the Portuguese people.442 Another at least indirect indication of the Augustinian connection on the colcha can be found in the form of a Bengal embroidery featuring a double-headed eagle with a heart in flames on its breast, 441 See for example: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=254844 (consulted 10.9.2012). Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. Luteolin and madder as dye stuff of the yellow tussar silk. 442 Ferguson, 1961, p. 67. As burning heart, standing for the love of the ruler it features in the propaganda of Philip II: Bouza Álvarez, 1989, pp. 42, 43.

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16. Sketch Solomon colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3692; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Scrollwork, 3. Dragon, 4. Heart with four men, 5. Woman feeding dragon, 6. Virgin Mary, 7. Winged snake and animals, 8. Hercules and Hydra, 9. Sun, moon and peacocks, 10. Soldiers on horseback, 11. Pelican, 12. Soldiers approaching town, 13. Judith and Holofernes, 14. Judith in tent, 15. Judith on tower, 16. Spinxes, 17. Scrollwork, 18. Lions, 19. Border with sea scenes, 20. Scrollwork, 21. Amphirite, Ganga, Fortuna or a Nereid on the dolphin, 22. Cupid, 23. Hero and Leander, 24. Arion/Orpheus, 25. Hercules and dragon, 26. Woman riding a dragon, 27. Stag-headed man riding a lion, 28. Phoenix, 29. Hunting scenes, 30. Lion (See colour plate 5)

a mitre between its heads, an incense burner and a bishop’s crozier in each of its beaks and the sun and moon in its claws. 443 This embroidery is part of a rare Indian ecclesiastical vestment ensemble where dynastic and religious symbols are placed in an explicitly religious context, on the colcha however the same symbols are arranged in different surroundings. To set the programme of the colcha into the context of mere missionary propaganda would be too narrow. It was already stated that the Crucifixion was not a successful symbol in many Asian missions and perhaps for this reason was never depicted on colchas. It seems to have been largely substituted by the self-sacrificing pelican, which is present on the colcha – also as a dynastic symbol of the Avis dynasty – above King Solomon, himself an ancestor of Christ and a model for kings of the Avis dynasty; also in connection with the pierced heart and the Virgin. 443 Today the vestments are in the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon, FO-1096.

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The Christian elements – mostly aligned along the vertical axis – evoke the true faith and confirm Salomon’s just rule. Combinations of pagan and sacred elements were familiar to pre-Tridentine Christian European art. For example, forms of typologies compared scenes from the life of Christ to scenes from the Old Testament and also to antique mythology.444 In this context Actaeon and Hercules for example could be interpreted as Christ. However, the combination of all three, Old Testament, New Testament (through the symbols for Christ) and Roman mythology as on the colcha, is rarely seen in European art. It seems that in Bengal this unusual mélange escaped the streamlining of Christian iconography of the Council of Trent in the mid-sixteenth century when Europe was shaken by religious wars and Counter-Reformation propaganda. This had repercussions in Goa where the Inquisition was established in 1560. The programme of the colcha shows that the Portuguese merchant colonies in Bengal remained largely off the inquisitorial sphere of influence and that consumers continued to appreciate the complexities of such an iconographic programme, which was probably too complex to be used in missionary activities and hints at its use in a secular context. In the trapezoidal form below the judgement scene the viewer discerns an animal handler and two dragons at his sides, an age-old symbol of strength that can be read in connection with Solomon. Underneath it, a winged snake inhabits the small semicircle. In the early examples, such as the colcha of the Museu Nacional do Traje (cat. no. 9) of the second phase, the snake was depicted without wings. They seem to be a later addition, result of a fusion of elements from different cultural contexts as is encountered in other hybrid figures on the colchas. The snake is thematically connected to the animals represented underneath it, also an element from earlier colchas. Placed in a larger semicircle a unicorn, a deer, a buffalo, rabbits and birds are waiting to feed, or feed out of the same trough. No carnivore is among them. The animals waiting until the unicorn has drunk before doing so themselves is a topos from the medieval Physiologus – based on an antique text focusing on fantastic and real animals including their moral qualities – and interestingly, it was referred to by Pyrard de Laval in relation to Bengal, additionally enhancing the magic qualities of the unicorn: “[there are] rhinoceros [the only actually existing unicorn] and some say unicorns too, which are said to be found in this land [Bengal] only! They say other animals will not drink at a well until a female unicorn has steeped her horn in the water, so they all wait on the bank till she comes and does so.”445 The scene with animlas eating together is a recurring motif on the colchas and might be due to Bengal being perceived as the land of the unicorn. The presence of a unicorn, whose origins date back to Near Eastern Antiquity and who in Christianity became a symbol of chastity gains importance in connection with the Virgin, represented above.446 However, the scene also evokes the notion of peace among the 444 See: Virty, 1509. 445 Pyrard de Laval, 1887, p. 331; On unicorn and rhinoceros: Ettinghausen, 1950. 446 Ettinghausen, 1950.

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animals, and the snake-eating stag, two other antique intercultural motifs.447 Semicircles with sphinxes – an ancient guardian symbol associated with royalty – are placed at both sides of the central Solomon square. The space between the centre and the quarter-circles in the corners of the middle field is filled above with the sun and moon next to the Virgin Mary and two peacocks, paradisiacal birds and symbols of the Virgin, all compliant with a Christian interpretation. Furthermore, there are groups of knights in European costume on horseback at the sides of the centre. It is not clear whether they are part of Solomon’s court – guarding it together with the sphinxes – or Holofernes’s army, the story of Judith being depicted in the quartercircles in the corners of the middle field. It portrays a highly ceremonial group of knights, executed in fine detail. Even though there is no perspective in the representation, a spatial impression is achieved by the semicircles with the sphinxes that literally cut the bodies of the horses passing behind it. Above the heads of the soldiers are birds, small gazelles, rabbits and other fauna. As a whole this combination of topics emphasises the secular and the sacred power of the rule of Solomon. The lower part of the middle field depicts the fight of Hercules against the Lernean Hydra, one of his famous twelve labours. To the left is the antique hero dressed in the characteristic lion skin and armed, strangely not with the usual club, but with bow and arrow. Hercules is incorporated into the programme as the victor over evil, represented by the Hydra. This concept fits well into the ambivalent interpretation; the hero could be interpreted typologically as Christ but also embodies the active side of the good ruler. Diverse fauna of different sizes surround the scene. All figures are placed in an undefined space, a setting reminiscent of the decoration of sixteenth century Safavid hunting carpets. The four circle segments in the corners of the middle field are filled with the Old Testament’s story of Judith and Holofernes decorated in a very similar manner as on the colcha of the Cleveland Museum (cat. no. 8). The biblical widow is fighting evil, like her male mythological counterpart, Hercules, and her Christian counterpart, Mary. The colcha is surrounded by four borders. The innermost border is filled with voluminous scrolls consisting of human busts with branches growing out of their heads and small dragons between them. They recall Italian grotesque designs, which probably served as models. In the small squares in the corners are four lions acting as guardians and royal symbols. The following border illustrates a version of maritime grotesque scenes and is the only border without squares inserted into the corners. It is full of fantastic creatures of different cultural origins divided by a twisted undulating rope; under its arches are busts of women with mussels and small fish and hybrid figures with goat heads. A miraculous world of maritime monsters and figures opens up beyond the intersecting rope: a winged female figure with two fish in her hand, and a single fisherman standing on an elephant throws out his 447 Ettinghausen, 1955, pp. 272–286.

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net; another uses a harpoon. The model for this scene might have been daily life along the river Ganges. Moreover, there is Fortuna holding her sail into the air and more transcultural hybrid figures, similar to those of the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4), with heads of goats and stags holding lances, a satyr and a centaur with bow and arrow (both do not actually have much to do with water), and winged mermaids. The middle of each side is marked by a caravel with a small sailing boat attached. The supposedly Portuguese sailors nonchalantly brave the dangers of the sea in this rich combination of creatures. Four mermaids or sirens set in the four corners are each playing a musical instrument (stringed instruments, plucked instruments and wind instruments), evoking maritime dangers and recalling the adventures of Ulysses. Some of the wind instruments are long and bent, showing Indian influence. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, images of the sea were often full of fantastic beings, as were medieval bestiaries and – especially – maps, an important source of inspiration for the colchas since many of them travelled along the maritime trade routes. The open sea was considered an unknown and uncanny place, fascinating and terrifying, promising profit, yet destructive at the same time. In the colcha’s case the ocean’s incalculable powers – shown as monsters – were dominated by the brave Portuguese sailors represented in the caravels. The third border is decorated with lavish, grotesque scrolls of European inspiration featuring double-headed eagles, flowers and busts of human figures with branches and dragon heads growing out of their bodies, next to small birds and squirrels. Eight squares are set into the grotesque decoration, four into the corners and four into the middle of each side. These include scenes from antique mythology, allegories and personifications: Hero and Leander, Orpheus playing to the beasts,448 and Hercules fighting a small dragon. Furthermore, there is a Nereid blowing a horn and riding on a dragon, a hybrid figure – half man half stag (like Actaeon), also blowing a horn and riding on a lion – a Nereid riding on a large fish, a blindfold Cupid with a bow and arrow, and the phoenix rising from the ashes. Because of the frequently mentioned fusion of motifs it is not always certain what or who exactly is represented in the small squares: the Indian embroiderers might have seen the local river goddess Ganga in the female figure riding a dolphin, the Portuguese buyers may have interpreted her as a Nereid; an Indian might interpret as a Naga what a European saw as mermaid etc. Hence many scenes suggest multiple meanings for viewers of different cultural backgrounds. The comprehension of the programme of the colchas changed with the cultural perspective of the viewer. Three of the squares in the border are embroidered with figures riding on animals. Indian gods were often depicted on their animal mounts, the motif was thus very familiar to the Indian embroiderers. The female figure riding a dragon was already shown in the Cleveland colcha (cat. no. 8) of the adapting phase and did not change in meaning or execution. The stag-headed figure riding a lion and blowing a horn is quite curious. In Mughal 448 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 773.

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and Safavid album paintings demons were often shown as stag hybrids. It is quite bizarre, that the stag, who is actually the prey, is riding on a lion, its predator. This could be explained in the context of the special magical talents of King Solomon and Orpheus (both depicted on this colcha), who are able to make animals forget the food chain and lie peacefully next to each other. It is one of the elements used to express the just rule of the ideal prince, in this case, Solomon.449 The third mounted figure is standing on a dolphin and has a sail in hand. Fortuna takes care of the fate of the sailors. In another square field a man is sitting in front of beasts – probably Orpheus or Arion. Strangely he has no instrument in his hands that could exactly specify the attribution. He could also be interpreted as a shepherd and thus another symbol of Christ. The depiction of Orpheus would stress the harmonious aspect of the textile and represents a Greek mythological counterpart to Solomon; both brought harmony to the wild animals. While Orpheus stands for the passive, transcendental side of the ideal prince, Hercules, who in the next field is fighting the dragon of the Hesperides with a club, is the prototype for exerting active earthly power. The phoenix – set in a square opposite Orpheus – is a Christian symbol of the Resurrection of Christ, but also of dynastic renewal: it burns every three- to five-hundred years and is resurrected from its ashes.450 Together with the representation of the pelican it accentuates the religious and dynastic element in the programme, both being linked to the Eucharist and Resurrection, two vital elements of Catholicism. At the same time they are politically charged symbols, with the pelican standing for the Avis dynasty and the phoenix alluding to the renewal of their rule by the Habsburgs, or in a later date by the Bragança. The square set into the middle of the lower part of the border depicts a blindfold Cupid, with bow and arrow in his hand and accompanied by two tiny dragons. His costume is rather Indian in style. The Indian god Krishna, one of the incarnations of Vishnu, is also the god of fire and flashes, which the figure on the colcha holds in his hands.451 Despite being a European model, Cupid was thus somewhat familiar to the Indian embroiderers; standing for the blindness of love he could be associated with the tragic love story of Hero and Leander on the textile. Right from the beginning of colcha production, hunting scenes – endowed with local, European and fantastic imagery – assumed an important position in their decoration and were the most frequently used border decorations. There are different kinds of hunts: hunts with hounds, or hunters in small groups chasing bears, tigers, unicorns, lions (sometimes winged), griffons, gazelles, dragons and buffalos, men on elephants and horses, or hunters engaged in a falcon hunt. The hunters wear European costume; they are armed with spears, shields and muskets. A small pond with buffalos, ducks, fish and flowers is situated in the middle of every border. Each corner of the hunting border is marked by a lion in a square, a royal guardian. They are very similar to those already depicted in the in449 For Orpheus and Solomon in the Mughal context see: Koch, 1988. 450 Kretschmer, 2011, pp. 327–328. 451 Frédéric, 1987, p. 353 and pp. 689.

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nermost border and were also a common local feature, since also the shields of the Sultans of Bengal were originally decorated with golden lions with black claws.452 Hunting was one of the most popular pastimes of the Islamic Indian and European upper classes; the latter were among the main consumers of colchas and might appreciate a topic addressing one of their favourite and most exclusive past times. On the colcha, scenes of daily life are depicted next to fantastic elements, such as hunters shooting ducks as well as unicorns. The maritime border and the hunting border emphasize the courtly and fantastic side of the colchas: sailors fighting sea monsters and hunters shooting dragons, unicorns and tigers. The Ganges delta was full of wild animals and as such one of the richest hunting grounds of the Indian Subcontinent; Bengal fauna included the rhinoceros – the only known unicorn. Again Pyrard de Laval states in his description of Bengal: “Some thinke it [the rhinoceros] is the right unicorne, because that as yet there hath no other bin found, but only by hearsay, and by pictures of them.”453 Apart from the basic layout and important elements in the border decoration, another stable factor in this group of colchas in terms of programme is the Judgement of Solomon in the centre; the changing factors are the motifs surrounding him. They draw from a relatively repetitive pool of biblical and mythological motifs, but differ from piece to piece, thus modifying and blurring the meaning of the different colchas. This associative and rather allegorical way of manifesting the concept of ideal rulership is reminiscent of much older regal programmes with a hybrid cultural context for instance in the Christian/Islamic Mediterranean world – communicating through allusions rather than through concrete contents – for instance the wooden ceiling of the Cappella Palatina in Norman Palermo, painted largely by Muslim artists for a Christian court church.454 The programme of the colchas is as difficult to grasp as the society of their commissioners and producers in Bengal who invented or at least mediated and embroidered it. Out of reach of the capital Goa and the Inquisition (introduced in Goa in 1560 and enforced in the 1580s), the population consisted of an interesting combination of locals and European renegades, adventurers, private merchants, among whom were probably New Christians and some missionaries trying to establish some Catholic control. It is possible that New Christian concepts had a certain influence on the programme but it is not evident and only certain details hint at this, such as the absence of a depicted Crucifixion, which might also be due to local Indian concerns. The courtly theme is most dominant in the Solomon colchas and it is embodied by the intercultural figure of King Solomon, the personification of the just ruler, surrounded by the attributes that celebrate him as such. A kind of a catalogue of princely virtues unfolds around him, showing hunts, model heroes, erudite mythological scenes, age-old regal sym452 Eaton, 1993, p. 65. 453 Pyrard de Laval, 1887, vol. II, p. 331. 454 See for example: Tronzo, 2004, pp. 75-84.

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bols and relatively indirect allusions to the Catholic faith and the contemporary dynastic situation in Spain. The iconography alludes to a Golden Age: the paradisiacal and harmonious aspect of the colcha with its lavish spiralling vine scrolls filled with birds, Solomon, Orpheus or Arion and the religious symbols proclaiming the Christian dominance, in this case implying that of the Portuguese over the riches of the Asian sea routes. The fight of good against evil is personified by two model heroes of antique mythology and the Bible: Hercules and Judith respectively. The religious aspect (recognised as such by the Christian viewer), represented by the Christian symbols which emphasise the idea of the Eucharist, the Resurrection and Redemption. The symbols are interconnected and related but allow space for additional interpretation for instance by Muslim, Hindu or New Christian viewers. As pointed out before, the Muslim rulers in India found similar iconographic solutions to express their just rule. Owing to the great number of existing Solomon colchas it is evident that the programme was not created for one occasion or for a special commission. These textiles were a customised product executed in considerably large quantities, carrying the iconographic content to places as far apart as Goa and Lisbon. The programme of this and other colchas of the type lies between secular and sacred, it is a multi-layered fusion of motifs partly drawing from an ancient intercultural pool of themes and represents the abridged dominions of the central ruler in an allegorical way. Allusions to a catalogue of virtues of ideal rulership and the Golden Age enhanced by Christian elements are central to it. This combination is surprisingly heterogeneous and does not correspond to Tridentine concepts of clarity in religious contexts, which make the colchas somewhat unfit for an ecclesiastical environment. Read in the context of Portuguese expansion, additional layers of meaning become relevant. The combination of different elements is characteristic in the context of maritime expansion, especially in literature, where Portugal compared and viewed itself in the succession of the ancient empires as the Fifth Empire, following idealised ancient predecessors such as the Roman Empire.455 This and the iconography of other Solomon colchas fit into the concept that showed the Portuguese expansion as a successor to the celebrated entique empires, alluding to the just rule of the Portuguese over their overseas empire. To stress this at a time when Portuguese power was under attack from other European powers and felt neglected by its Spanish ruler conveyed a strong message to the latter, at the same time reminding the clientele of the glories under the Avis dynasty. The programme lacks clarity; however, it could be read as favourable to the Habsburgs, with Philip II and Philip III as the rightful successors of the Avis as well as of the succeeding dynasty. Perhaps this ambiguity was intended. Its ambiguous content makes an allegorical reading of the iconography most probable. It is best interpreted as illustrating the concept of ideal Spanish-Portuguese rule over the maritime empire. Imagining that a colcha like this once shimmered in almost 455 Azevedo, 1918; Paiva, 1999; Cardoso, 2001.

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golden splendour, it would make a fitting decoration for colchas for a palace or mansion. However, it has to be pointed out and was shown by Susana Pedroso that the most important rooms in a palace were usually decorated with silk textiles. Given its content, colchas like these could also be used for propagandistic purposes as large size and more durable pamphlets.

17. SOLOMON COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 247 x 291 cm Yellow embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on an undyed white cotton ground Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 46.421456

The proportions of this colcha are not as harmonious as other Solomon pieces chosen to show the wide range of this specific Bengal production. The basic layout is similar to the previous colcha but the outermost border is awkwardly large. As a consequence, the middle field is much smaller and its organisation more irregular. The four scenes of Judith and Holofernes in the middle field for instance directly surround the central king. Stylistically the embroideries are simpler, which hinders identification of some individual scenes. It is also smaller than the previous colcha, suggesting it was one of the less expensive embroideries. The layout of the angular centre with its indentations and extensions is more oblong and not symmetrical because of lack of space. The scene of the Judgement of Solomon is somewhat denser and placed on a stage under a schematic architecture, Solomon is sitting on a chair with the women standing in front of him. The female bust above the central scene is again identified as the Virgin Mary accompanied by the sun, moon and stars. A doubleheaded eagle presides over the structure, emphasising royalty, very probably hinting at Habsburg dominance. Underneath the judgement scene in the horizontal rectangle animals are again feeding out of one trough. Owing to the lack of space most of them were cut by the dividing compartment frame so that only the heads of the deer and tail of the snake are visible, showing that the embroiderers were not very careful in the transposition of the model. The pointed end of the centre and the lateral semicircles show busts of soldiers as guardians of the king. The four surrounding borders are in a different order from the other Solomon colchas because both, the innermost and the outermost – the broad one – depict fantastic mari456 Three other colchas belonging to those with an angular centre version are from the Museum of Malmö (Inv. MM 51476, in fragments) the Victoria & Albert Museum (Inv. 150-69), a private collection in London and one in the Museu do Oriente in Lisbon.

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17a. Solomon colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 46.421

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17b. Sketch of Solomon colcha; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Virgin Mary, 3. Animals around trough, 4. Double-headed eagle, 5. Bust of man, 6.Bust of man, 7. Judith and Holofernes, 8. Border with sea scenes, 9. Mythological scenes, 10. Scrollwork, 11. Hunting scenes, 12. Lions, 13. Large border with sea scenes

time scenes with caravels in the middle of each side. The other borders are not as varied as on other colchas. The outermost large maritime border is interlaced by an undulating rope. Four large caravels plough through the waves between the fantastic beings; a Triton is seen among the fishermen and fisherwomen, who in turn stand on the back of a fish and throw out their nets. The proportions of the figures were not adjusted to fit the space on the colcha. The other borders show hunting scenes with heraldic lions in their corners, and the other is filled with spiralling vine scrolls including grotesque elements and episodes from antique mythology. The eight mythological scenes are set into squares: on top there is a – for colchas – common but not precisely attributable scene: two persons (women with hats?) are sitting at a table. In another field is a stag-headed man riding a lion, then a shepherd with his herd, a stick and a bundle in his hand. This scene could refer to Christ, often represented as a shepherd. The image of the Christ Child as bom pastor was very popular in Portuguese India and can be seen in innumerable sculpted ivory figures of the period.457 Following these scenes is Fortuna with her sail and standing on a dolphin, then a woman on a dragon, Hercules fighting a dragon, and a pelican opening its breast. The last square illustrates the tragic love of Hero and Leander. Apart from the shepherd, no new motifs 457 Amiot-Guigaz, 2007, Pinto, 2015.

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were introduced, but their order and placement is different: the pelican, for example, was in the prominent position in the middle field on the colchas discussed before and is now relegated to the border sphere. This colcha demonstrates a less elaborate production and also that individual motifs were interchangeable and could be substituted without undue alteration to the general meaning of the programme.

18. SOLOMON COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 320 x 274 cm Yellow embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on an undyed white cotton ground Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14410

This colcha represents one of the most developed and elaborate – and probably most expensive – examples of all known Solomon colchas. The layout was slightly modified and individual motifs were further developed. The quality of the embroidery is excellent, and 18a. Sketch of Solomon colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14410; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Double-headed eagle, 3. Three women bathing, below two men in front of a house, 4. Three women bathing, below Ulysses and Penelope, 5. Polyxena, 6. Vinescroll, 7. Pyramus and Thisbe, 8. Actaeon, 9.– 12. Story of the pilgrim, 13. – 16. Judith and Holofernes, 17. Small border, 18. Border with sea scenes, 19.– 26. Mythological Scenes, 27. Scrollwork, 28. Hunting scenes

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18c. Detail with Phoenix

18b. Detail with Judith on tower 18d. Detail with Polyxena

its size is extraordinarily large. Unfortunately the colour contrast is very weak and as yet no professional photograph exists showing the entire piece. The basic layout of the middle field evolved through simplification: a narrow border featuring delicate spiralling vine scrolls with flowers and eagles in the corners frames the Solomon scene. The story of Judith is placed directly into the corners. The angular centre consists of a simple rectangle with indentations at the four corners. Four semicircles, one at each side, stabilise the centre and attach it to the borders. The Judgement of King Solomon is placed in a square form under a canopy. Above is a large double-headed eagle flanked by musicians. The king is sitting on a chair in the middle of a crowd of people who are part of his court: three soldiers with lances stand behind him; in addition to the two women and the soldiers are three more servants on the other side. An outline of Jerusalem extends above the large canopy. Two narrow vertical rectangles depicting four different mythological love scenes are placed at both sides of the Judgement of Solomon. A fountain with three nude women, Diana and her consorts, inhabit the upper part on both sides. However, they are depicted without Actaeon, nullifying the exact meaning of the scene. Underneath are two unidentified soldiers in front of a house on the right and, probably, Ulysses returning to Penelope on the left. The scene of Ulysses, King of Ithaca, returning home to Penelope is from Homer’s Odyssey and occasionally appears on colchas. Penelope is the prototype of the faithful wife and as such is often depicted on Ital-

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ian Renaissance wedding chests, the cassone.458 She made an ideal model for many Portuguese women faithfully waiting at home for their husbands and sons returning from India, as much as Ulysses was a model for Portuguese men venturing out to India. In the horizontal rectangle placed below Solomon is a woman who is about to be decapitated by two knights. This scene is quite frequent in the colchas but cannot be identified with certainty. Comparison with the same motif shown on other colchas lends credence to the figure as being female, and that it is a punishment scene rather than an accolade to the lady.459 The most famous decapitated woman of antique mythology is Medusa, whose head was cut off by Perseus and given to the goddess Athena or Minerva, as told among others by Ovid in Metamorphoses, IV, 753–803.460 If interpreted as such, the scene would fit into the context of the fight between good and evil. More fittingly in the context of model women she could be interpreted as the antique Polyxena, the courageous and chaste (ideal female virtues) daughter of the Trojan King Priam, who was famously sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles, as narrated by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, XIII, 441–480.461 In the Lusiadas of Luís de Camões she is mentioned in the context of the story of Inês de Castro (1325–1355), beloved wife of the Portuguese King D. Pedro I, who was killed by his father; a very popular story in Portugal.462 This interpretation draws a fitting parallel between Greek mythology and Portuguese history and lends a Portuguese touch to the textile. Moreover, it corresponds to the other ideal women shown on the colcha. Trapezoidal forms constitute part of the central field. There the episode of Actaeon and Diana is depicted in its entirety, similar to that of the Budapest colcha (cat. no. 15); the scene of Pyramus and Thisbe is placed below. Both episodes are depicted twice on this colcha. The four corner scenes of the story of Judith in the middle field are embroidered in exceptional detail. They are much more dense in atmosphere than on other colchas as they are given more space. Flowers grow and birds fly in the small spaces between the figures and knights on horseback ride in orderly lines. In the middle of all four sides, semicircles intersect the Judith scenes, delineated by aligned blossoms ending in dragon heads. Starting at the left side is an unusual story of two men, probably pilgrims, distinguished from each other by their different hats. In the first field they depart from a couple with their sticks and bundles. Following the next three scenes in the semi-circles, the story develops and ends in the violent death of one of the two travellers: the second field shows the men fighting, one of them is kneeling and the other stretches out his fist. In the third scene the winner cuts his victim’s head off, and a third man approaches. The last shows the traveller raising the head of the victim on a lance 458 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 850. 459 Garde and Irwin thought the figure to be a man, either a Portuguese king or a local Indian ruler: Garde, 1970; Irwin, 1952; Irwin, 1957. 460 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 872. 461 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 909; this identification was suggested to me by Joyce Denney. 462 Camões, 2006, Canto III, 118–135.

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and behind him the wildly gesticulating third man. This narrative of the death of the traveller presumably illustrates the victory of the good over evil or the perils of travel, it is also shown on other colchas.463 It still awaits a clear identification. Four borders surround the elaborate middle field of which the innermost is very narrow and decorated with spiralling vine scrolls and hybrid figures. The second depicts variations of the usual maritime scenes. In the third, mythological scenes are placed in the corners and the middle of each side between rich vine scrolls sprouting flowers and leaves and including hybrid figures. The corners are marked by square forms; the other fields are configured by living architecture in the form of vegetal arches supported by satyrs. Starting at the top, there is a woman with a sword kneeling in front of two men, which might again be an illustration of Polyxena. Shown in the following sectors are: probably Ulysses returning to Penelope, the rising phoenix, a couple sitting on chairs with their servant, a Nereid standing on a dragon, Hercules fighting the Hydra, a blindfolded Cupid, and finally Hero and Leander. The outermost border contains the characteristic hunting episodes with fantastic features. Stylistically and technically this colcha counts among the most developed pieces of the Bengal production. Although the embroideries were perfected, the conciseness of the allegorical programme suffered. Important details were simply cut out or stories repeated. Interestingly most Christian elements were simply left out and new scenes like the story of the two pilgrims were added. The Bengal workshops produced large quantities of Solomon colchas, most of which do not survive. It is probable that by producing growing numbers of colchas the embroiderers became more reluctant about the narrative details and focused on perfecting the style and the central scenes. This textile and the following pieces also illustrate that the Solomon colchas vary significantly from piece to piece, nonetheless retaining their general meaning. It is probable that this rendered them more desirable to customers, each desirous of a unique piece.

19. SOLOMON COLCHA WITH ZIGZAG BORDER – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 330 x 289 cm Yellow tussar silk on an undyed white cotton foundation, technique: chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch Victoria & Albert Museum, London, IS. 6–1964

The following colcha of the Solomon group is characterised by an ingeniously designed middle field including a zigzag border.464 Stylistically the colcha resembles the piece at 463 Hispanic Society: MMA.4.2011.46.26, Museum of Malmö: MM51476. 464 The second, fragmentary, colcha is in the Museu Nacional do Traje in Lisbon.

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19a. Solomon colcha with zigzag border, Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, IS. 6–1964

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19b. Sketch Solomon colcha; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Musicians, 3. Men and heart, 4. Polyxena, 5. Virgin Mary, 6. Moon, 7. Sun, 8. Hercules, 9. Hydra, 10. Winged snake and animals, 11. Pelican, 12. Ulysses and Penelope, 13. Two men with horses, 14. Sphinxes, 15. Soldiers approaching city, 16. Judith and Holofernes, 17. Judith in tent, 18. Judith and the head of Holofernes, 19. Scrollwork, 20. Lions, 21. Border with sea scenes, 22. Scrollwork, 23. Hero and Leander, 24. Cupid, 25. Hercules and dragon, 26.Pyramus and Thisbe, 27. Amphirite, Ganga, Fortuna or a Nereid on the dolphin, 28. Woman riding a dragon, 29. Stagheaded man riding a lion, 30. Phoenix, 31. Hunting scenes, 32. Lions , 33. Scrollwork

the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 16). Three borders surround the middle field, which is additionally articulated by a broad zigzag border passing through the whole field. It approximately follows the structure characteristic of the middle fields of the colchas discussed previously (leaving out corner segments and lateral semicircles). This zigzag border is decorated with fine vine scrolls including flowers, grapes and birds. The border represents a significant development of the basic organisation, encountered so far. A central rectangle is inserted into the zigzag structure. It shows the judgement scene where Solomon and the soldier are giants in comparison to the small women. Above them extends the abridged architecture of Jerusalem, with only its roofs visible. Beyond it is a heart-shaped form decorated with leaves on top. Six proportionally small men approach from the sides towards an enormous pierced heart, most probably a symbol of Christ. Fittingly, the crowned Virgin is portrayed with sun and moon at her sides just above. Her head cuts into the zigzag border. The horizontal rectangle under the judgement is filled with the scene of Polyxena and the two knights who are about to decapitate her. The spaces between the central rectangle and the zigzag border are filled with hybrid musicians at the sides and

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the fight of Hercules against a dragon underneath. The zigzag border forms triangles and semicircles at the outer side but still within the middle field. There are four fields with the story of Judith: the marching soldiers at the right, the reception and the decapitation of the general above right and left, and Judith presenting the decapitated head at the left. Winged sphinxes fill the semicircles in the lateral fields, and the triangles include Penelope awaiting Ulysses at the left and two men fighting at the right, inviting multiple interpretations. Of the four surrounding borders the innermost is filled with delicate vine scrolls growing out of a human head and with lions in the corners. The second depicts the characteristic maritime scenes and in the third mythological scenes are set into vine scrolls sprouting flowers, with double-headed eagles and female busts between dragonheads resembling the colcha from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 16). The squares intersecting the scrolls show the following episodes, all seen on previous colchas: a woman riding a dragon, Fortuna or a Nereid on the dolphin, Pyramus and Thisbe, Hercules fighting the dragon, Cupido, Hero and Leander, the phoenix and a stag-headed man on a lion. Hunting scenes decorate the outermost border, which features lions in the corners.

20. SOLOMON COLCHA WITH THE ZODIAC – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, second quarter seventeenth century 326 x 280 cm Yellow embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on an undyed white cotton ground Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, Inv. 1363465

The colcha’s layout recalls one of the prototypes, that of the Bayerische National Museum (cat. no. 6). The piece differs in several ways from the colchas discussed above because of the insertion of a new theme, the zodiac in form of Roman gods decorating one of the borders. Moreover, it shows a blazon framing the Judgement of Solomon in the centre. Three borders surround the middle field, circle segments filling its corners. Two horizontal lines provide additional stability to the central square with the heraldic device. The coat of arms with the Judgement of Solomon does not represent a family but merely emphasises the formality of royal representation placing the judgement of the king into an emphasised cartouche. The central heraldic device appears to hang in the surrounding spiralling vine scrolls. This way of representing a coat of arms was very popular in sixteenth- and seventeenthcentury Europe. For instance, around the same date, similar coats of arms with scrolls on 465 A similar colcha is from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (Inv. 616–1886). See also article: Karl, 2003, pp. 56–66.

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20a. Solomon colcha with the zodiac, Bengal/Hugli region, second quarter seventeenth century; Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, Inv. 1363

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20b. Sketch of Solomon colcha; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Helmet, 3. Musicians and Dancers, 4. Polyxena/Medusa/Inês de Castro, 5. Winged snake, 6. Animals, 7. Woman, 8. Pelican, 9. Pyramus and Thisbe, 10. Ulysses and Penelope, 11. Man on horseback, 12. Hercules, 13. Hydra, 14. Actaeon, 15. Judgement of Paris, 16. Soldiers approaching the city, 17. Judith and Holofernes, 18. Judith in tent, 19. Judith and the head of Holofernes, 20. Border with sea scenes, 21. Jupiter, 22. Pyramus and Thisbe, 23. Titan, 24. Mars, 25. Saturn, 26. Luna, 27. Venua, 28. Merkur, 29. Scrollwork, 30. Hunting scenes, 31. Doubleheaded Eagle

Chinese porcelain plates were commissioned by the Portuguese. The Judgement of Solomon is larger here and more dominating than in other colchas, and – interestingly – a different model was used for it. The king is shown frontally, his arms spread wide covering the throne; he is holding a sceptre. One of his feet is placed on a crown and the other on a globe. Stairs separate him from the much smaller women and the soldier. A canopy with curtains, which turns into a small brick structure, extends behind and above the king; birds are flying around him. Like the lions, the latter are traditional companions of the Solomonic throne. The model of this representation of Solomon can very probably be identified in the print of the Arco de los Sastres or Alfaiates in Portuguese on page 52 in J. B. Lavanha’s book the: Viaje de la Catholica Real Magestad del Rei D. Filipe III. N.S. al Reino de Portugal. When discussing the colcha in the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum (cat. no. 25), the reader will see that this book was in fact in Bengal and provided models for other colchas, too.466 The triumphal arch including Solomon was part of the complex decoration programme of the city for the entrée solennelle of King Philip III of Spain into Lisbon in 1619. The book, showing the illustrations of the famous entry, was published in 1622 in Madrid. In view of 466 The colcha from the Victoria & Albert Museum (Inv. 284–1876) uses the same model for the representation of Solomon but is not presented here.

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the duration of the journey, the book could have arrived in Bengal around 1624, providing a terminus post quem for the date of production of this colcha and others using prints from the same book as models. The Solomon of the printed arch is more detailed but depicted in the same pose as on the colcha, and a similar canopy with curtains is suspended above him. Solomon’s feet rest on a globe and a crown respectively, symbols of his rule. On the print, the stairs leading up to him are flanked with twelve lions, a typical feature of the Solomonic throne. The solemn entry was organized for King Philip III, on the arch the king was deemed in the accompanying text as even superior to Solomon, often identified with his father Philip II. The print of 1622 does not show the judgement scene however; it merely focuses on the enthroned Solomon. In the colcha the women and the soldier were added beneath, and the lions and some steps were left out. The introduction of a new solution for the representation of the judgement scene combined two models (first the print from Lavanha’s book and second adding the two women from the older model for Solomon colchas to complete the judgement scene). This modification also stresses the importance of the judgement scene for the colchas programme. Festive moments of European court life of that time included a musical component represented here by the hybrid musicians and dancers accompanying the scene. In addition to these, satyrs, birds, small dragons and on the bottom two hunting scenes are placed around it as part of the court of Solomon, celebrating him. Entries like the one from 1619 showed a predilection for complex iconographic programmes that were often explained in written form. Drawing at least parts of their inspiration from them, the colchas were equally complex but rarely feature inscriptions. The use of this book as a model for several colchas also underscores the political implications of the iconographic context proposed for the Solomon colchas. The scenes surrounding the centre remain very similar to the other Solomon colchas. The scene of the woman (most probably Polyxena) with raised arms flanked by two knights with horses is depicted below the judgement. Above the central square, as her Christian counterpart, the bust of the Virgin Mary embroidered into a medallion and Christ in the form of the pelican is sacrificing itself to its brood in a semicircle above her. Next to them are two frequently used scenes from antique mythology: the Judgement of Paris to the right and the story of the unfortunate Actaeon. Underneath the central square is a medallion with a winged snake; connected to this in a semicircle the animals drink out of one trough. At the sides of the peacefully feeding animals, Hercules and the Lernean Hydra fight in an undefined space between diverse fauna. Tellingly, small dragons and animal fights are set next to the Hydra, and the more peaceful rabbits and squirrels surround Hercules. Semicircles connected to the centre in the form of a three-cusped arch ending in dragon heads are placed left and right of the central square and show two scenes of antique mythology: Pyramus and Thisbe at the left and Ulysses returning to Penelope at the right. Penelope is standing in front of a brick wall, the palace, and her husband, dressed in armour, approaches her. Although Ulysses is not dressed like a beggar as in the original story, the dog behind him,

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recognizing his master, leaves no doubt as to the attribution of this scene, which is found on other colchas too. In the other scene Thisbe is lying upon her dying lover, whose sword is pierced through her heart; behind the lovers the lion is drinking out of the spring where they were to meet. A maid stands at the left, discovering the two bodies. The same model as for the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4) was used here. The Judith and Holofernes scenes are as usual placed in the corners – also following the established models. Mounted soldiers are riding towards each other between the segments at each side of the Solomonic centre. The three borders surrounding the middle field are of about the same width. Both their corners and the middle of each side are accentuated by specific motifs, accentuating the symmetry of the textile. The innermost border shows the already familiar maritime scenes, with sea monsters, fishermen, undulating ropes, mermaids with musical instruments and caravels in the middle of each border. The second border is filled with elaborate, spiralling vine scrolls with birds and smaller animals, including grotesque features such as hybrid figures, half human half stag, and masks. Eight insertions are set into the border – four in the corners and four in the middle of each side – and show the zodiac in the form of seven Roman gods as planets. The eighth field is filled with the scene from the Ovidian Metamorphoses of Pyramus and Thisbe, the second time this is illustrated on this colcha. In the corners of the border the gods are placed in a square, in the middle of the borders they are framed by two mermaids serving as caryatids holding an arc or canopy with masks above them. The representation of the zodiac with Roman gods as planets was popular in Renaissance Europe and usually found in secular palatial contexts. One of the most famous Renaissance representations is in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, another is in the Udienza del Cambio in Perugia and still another in the Salottino di Lucrezia in the Castello di Gradara near Rimini (there it is interestingly shown in connection with the Judgement of Paris, which is often represented on the colchas as well).467 Moreover, gods as planets often decorated Italian Renaissance majolica plates. Closely linked to astrology, the zodiac played an important part in the Europe as well as in the Islamic world; the Grand Mughal Humayun for instance had a zodiac tent468 and his grandson Jahangir had coins struck depicting the signs.469 The consultation of stars calculated auspicious moments for military campaigns and travels. Astrology accompanied most movements not only of the Mughals but also played an important part in the lives of Europeans.470 In the political Iberian context of the time the zodiac was linked to Philip II as a sign of his rule over an empire in which the sun did not set. It also featured in his 1581 entry into Lisbon.471 467 468 469 470 471

Cesari, 1996. Alford Andrews, vol. IV., 1987, p. 149. See: Thackston (ed.), 1999, zodiac coins from the British Museum (1617–1624) p. 260. See for instance: Quinlan-McGrath, 2013. Bouza Álvarez, 1989, p. 41; Guerreiro, 1581, cap. IX.

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The colcha is testimony to astrology’s importance. Seven gods and the seven known planets form the zodiac and serve as a medium to glorify the ideal prince; twelve signs are divided into four seasons and seven planets: Sun, Moon, Venus, Saturn, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. On the colcha the gods sit on chariots, a motif somewhat familiar to Indian embroiderers – every Indian god had his/her own mount. The depiction of chariots recalls triumphal processions, so popular in the early modern period. Prints depicting these trionfi were widely disseminated, and one of these, or an illustrated astrological treatise, probably served as a model for the colcha. The individual fields are structured in repeated sequence: each god is sitting on a chariot, its wheels including the appropriate zodiacal signs. Each is accompanied by his characteristic attributes and inscription bands in small rectangular fields. The only anomaly, which may reveal something about the model used, is the representation of the god Titan instead of Apollo as the sun. Magnificent hunting scenes very similar to those described and seen on other colchas extend in the outermost borders between majestic double-headed eagles placed in the four corners. It is interesting that two quite unique features of the Solomon colchas, the zodiac, Solomon in a blazon and parts of the story of the archer (illustrated solely on the related colcha of the Victoria & Albert Museum) were also depicted on the related colcha of the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum (cat. no. 25), illustrating the closeness of workshops. As in the colchas with the mythological borders, Solomon dominates the centre and the courtly aspect is emphasised by musicians, dancers and fantastic animals as the typical escort of Solomon. The Christian themes of the Virgin and the pelican are present too. The element of harmony is stressed by the animals feeding out of one trough. Hercules and Judith complement each other in their fight against the evil forces. Erudite mythological elements are represented again by the scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey. Sacred and secular are placed next to each other and typological allusions are present in the many layers of interpretation. Solomon is more dominating than before and has additional attributes: the crown, the sceptre and the sphere in his hands and under his feet extolling him as the ruler of the cosmos, additionally stressed by the zodiac. His claim to universal power signified by these attributes is evident. In fact, the whole programme is a celebration of him, with triumphal festivities surrounding him. The zodiac stands for the heavenly sphere, in this case dominion not only over the world but over the cosmos, the hunting border represents the domination of the Earth, and the maritime border represents the domination of the sea. The historic context places the programme quite evidently in the celebrative sphere of the Portuguese expansion. The print from Lavanha’s book from 1622 illustrating Solomon in a triumphal arch was chosen as a model – very probably consciously – to transpose Spanish royal propaganda onto the colcha. The printed model presents Solomon, the ruler of a Christian cosmos, as a model for the King of Spain. Thus the colcha invites an Iberian interpretation, in the allegorical rendering of the dominance of the King of Spain and Portugal over the known world, stressed by the crowned double headed eagles in the corners.

21. Solomon Colcha with the Four Continents – Third Phase, Compact Group

21. SOLOMON COLCHA WITH THE FOUR CONTINENTS – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

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Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century – pre 1640 335 x 257 cm Yellow embroidery in chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch on an undyed white cotton ground Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2237472

Only two Solomon colchas are as yet known featuring the variant of the four continents.473 The state of conservation of this colcha is not perfect; some details of the embroidery are worn out.474 A reason for this is that the fine, dense and stabilising background embroidery in backstitch characterising many Bengal colchas is missing. The lack of dense background embroidery makes the scenes more easily distinguishable than on other colchas. But some details are missing, because of its used state. In addition, the execution of the embroidery is slightly simpler than on other pieces. As will be explained, the two colchas with the four continents are related to the following group of Bengal colchas featuring Phaeton and Jupiter in the centre; they were also produced parallel to the Solomon colchas. Like the Phaeton colchas, they show scenes from the lives of Arion and Hercules in the borders. The layout of this colcha differs slightly from the former groups. The middle field is smaller and longer, the four surrounding borders take up more space. The judgement scene in the centre is a combination of the two versions seen before: it is set into a blazon, and stairs lead up to Solomon’s throne as in the colcha of the Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida (cat. no. 20), but this time Solomon is sitting sideways on a chair under a canopy (compare cat. no. 16). The coat of arms structure is crowned by a helmet with feathers and flanked by Solomonic lions, spiralling vine scrolls sprouting leaves and set into a rectangle. The bust of the Virgin Mary is directly above the helmet but still within the central rectangle, at a distance from her are sun and moon and the pelican in a small triangle. Under the central rectangle Hercules is fighting against the Hydra and below this, again in a small rectangle, are the animals around the trough with the winged snake. At the left and right of the rectangle hybrid figures such as mermaids, satyrs and half-dragon-half-human figures play diverse 472 Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. Luteolin and madder as dyes for embroidery. 473 The other is from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (Inv. 284–1876). The colcha is in a splendid state of conservation and of high quality but the lacking contrast of colours makes it extremely difficult to distinguish the individual scenes and to photograph. 474 This is the only colcha to which an entire publication was dedicated: Pacheco-Pereira/Alarcão, 1988. The author also thanks Maria Helena Mendes Pinto who generously provided her personal notes on this colcha. In addition, see: Jabouille, 1985 especially for the discussion of mythological themes also relevant for other colchas; Karl, 2006, pp. 438-448.

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21a. Solomon colcha with the four continents, Bengal/Hugli region, between 1610 and 1640s; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2237

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21b. Sketch Solomon colcha; 1. Judgement of Solomon, 2. Virgin Mary, 3. Musicians, 4. Sphinxes, 5. Pelican, 6. Hercules and Hydra, 7. Winged snake and animals, 8. Continent, 9. Continent, 10. Continent, 11. Continent, 12.–16. Arion under a tree singing to animals, 17. Arion in town, 18. Sungod on chariot, 19. Arion entering ship, 20.– 23.Scenes aboard the ship, 24. not identified, 25. Arion on dolphin, 26. Chariots of the Gods, 27. Arion placed among the stars, 28. Hercules slaying the Nemean lion, 29. Hercules slaying the Lernaean hydra, 30. Hercules capturing the Erymanthian boar, 31. Hercules capturing the Ceryneian hind, 32. Hercules capturing the Cretan bull, 33. Hercules and Hippolyta before Theseus, 34. Hercules and Neptune, 35. Hercules obtaining Geryon’s cattle, 36. Hercules stealing the mares of Diomedes, 37. Hercules capturing Cerberus, 38. Hercules stealing the apples of the Hesperides, 39. Hercules and the Centaur, 40. Hercules and Hesione, 41. Hercules and Atlas, 42.–46.Hercules and Omphale, 47./48. Hercules and Cacus, 48. Scrollwork, 49. Pyramus and Thisbe, 50. Woman riding a dragon, 51. Hero and Leander, 52. Cupid, 53. Amphirite, Ganga, Fortuna or a Nereid on the dolphin, 54. Ulysses and Penelope, 55. Actaeon, 56. Hunting scenes, 57. Doubleheaded eagle, 58. Judgement of Paris

musical instruments as part of the Solomonic court. In the middle under a semicircle are two crowned and winged sphinxes also acting as guardians of the king. In the small four corner segments of the middle field (on other colchas the position of the story of Judith) four figures are depicted riding on animals. They represent the four

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continents of the then known world: Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The Portuguese, part of the Spanish kingdom since 1580, were present in all four continents: in America, along the African coast and along the coasts of the South Asian Seas as far as the Philippines. For obvious reasons, representations of the four continents were very popular during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Iberia (but also elsewhere in Europe) and were used for example to decorate triumphal arches both in Lisbon and also elsewhere in the empire.475 The feature repeatedly in the 1581 entry of Philip II into Lisbon.476 In 1593 to celebrate an entry of Archduke Ernst, the Portuguese merchants had an arch erected prominently featuring the four continents as an allusion to the expansion of the Portuguese/Spanish empire, which was published by none less than Plantin in 1595.477 Just as the zodiac, they stressed the idea of the global empire of the Spanish Kings represented by the just rule of King Solomon, a striking parallel to the colchas. The figures riding the diverse animals do not exactly follow the models described in Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia; 478 rather they are based on prints like those by Adriaen Collaert after Marten de Vos, from Antwerp 1595, where America is depicted sitting on an armadillo and Africa on a crocodile.479 The embroiderer could have misunderstood this motif and thus interpreted the armadillo as lizard. The crowned woman with book and sword sitting on an elephant is presumably Asia, the next figure, strangely, a crowned man also with sword and a book and riding a horse, personifies Europe, and the last two women sitting on lizards represent America and Africa. Four borders surround the middle field: The innermost border depicts the mythical story – narrated among others by Ovid in Fasti II, 79–118 – of the singer Arion of Lesbos in seventeen pictures, starting with five scenes in which he is shown singing in front of a changing audience.480 They show the singer sitting under a tree with his instrument – the lyre. His singing stops the current of a river and makes wolves, lions, falcons and hounds lie peacefully next to sheep, deer, pigeons and rabbits. He spreads harmony, like two other Greek musicians, Orpheus and Amphion, but also the biblical kings David and Solomon. In the following pictures people applaud as the moon rises, listening to the songs of Arion. After long journeys the famous singer returns home on a ship. In the following five pictures the quite elaborate but proportionally small ship is the centre of the composition: Arion is depicted much larger than the other sailors. The story unfolds in the manner of a cartoon: the captain and his crew plan to kill him by throwing him overboard and robbing his fortune. Realising the threat, Arion asks the favour of a last song, throws himself overboard and is rescued by a dolphin. Some of the scenes featuring the ship have become very worn. 475 476 477 478 479 480

See catalogue: Lisbon, 2001, p. 28. Guerreiro, 1581, chaps. IV, XI. Davidson/van der Weel, 492-576. Ripa, 1681, part II, p. 6. See: Oliveira Marques, 1998, p. 274. Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 214.

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During his journey on the back of the dolphin he continues his recitations, with the gods Diana, Venus, Mercury and Ceres as his audience. The chariots on which the gods are sitting are comparable to those of the zodiacal planets of the Solomon/zodiac colchas (cat. no. 20). The sequence ends with Jupiter, seated on his throne with an eagle in front of him and a dolphin looking up at the stars. As a reward the singer and the dolphin are transposed into the stars to enjoy eternal life. All scenes face the viewer; those on top are turned around in order to be seen correctly when the colcha is hanging up. The ideas of harmony and eternal life are immanent to the story. It is interesting to note that the story of Arion develops clockwise and the following story of Hercules counter-clockwise. The second border is entirely dedicated to Hercules, the antique hero par excellence.481 His adventurous life, described by so many Greek and Roman poets, is illustrated in twenty pictures focusing on the twelve labours but going beyond them and begins with the fight against the lion of Nemea, after which he receives the hide of the beast, one of his main attributes. In the following picture he fights the Lernean hydra, traditionally with his club and torch (not as seen on other colchas with bow and arrow). Furthermore, he fights the fierce Erymanthian boar, the golden hind of Artemis and the Cretan bull, the Minotaur. These scenes are all part of his famous twelve labours. The next scene illustrates the delivery of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, to King Theseus of Thebes. Then Hercules pulls Argia out of the sea and throws back Neptune on his chariot drawn by two fish and accompanied by armed men standing on dolphins. After this the hero kills the three-headed Geryon, makes the meat-eating horses eat their owner Diomedes, and kills the Cerberus in order to liberate Theseus from the Hades. Then he fights the guardian dragon of the apples of the Hesperides – a scene already seen on other colchas – chases a centaur, liberates Hesione and finally takes the place of Atlas to carry the world. Remarkably, four pictures show the encounter of Hercules with his beloved Omphale, daughter of the King of Lybia, a scene already seen on the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4). Hercules and Omphale change clothes and are then depicted in bed with the faun, who is also in love with the heroine. Approaching, he takes Hercules for Omphale because of his female clothes. The last image of the episode shows the hero and his queen laughing at the deceived faun. The episode with Omphale is the only one illustrating the weakness of the hero, which he overcomes. The final story tells of Cacus, who stole Hercules’s herd and hid it in a cave. The hero discovers and kills the thief. The choice of images not only shows him executing most of his twelve labours but also as defender of justice and virtue who overcomes his weaknesses, presenting him as the ideal role model for a prince. The arrangement of the scenes in the Arion and the Hercules border is reminiscent of woven tapestry series of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries hung next to each other to decorate palaces. Several European tapestries did indeed reach India but served as exotic presents for local rulers rather than as successful merchandise. Whether tapestries 481 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 515,516, 549.

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reaching India served as models for colchas remains to be proven, prints are the more probable source and conveyed similar images. Like Arion, Hercules was granted eternal life after his death. Both served as identification figures for the Portuguese, who also left their homes and went to unknown countries, experienced incredible adventures and in the end were rewarded with eternal glory and life. Arion embodies the passive, intellectual side of the ideal ruler and Hercules the active side, both were embodied by Solomon and consequently by every king who compared himself to him.482 The third border is filled with vine scrolls including grotesque elements such as masks and stag-headed men. The characteristic selection of mythological scenes is set into it: the blindfold Cupid riding a lion, Fortuna on a dolphin, Ulysses and Penelope, the judgement of Paris and the story Actaeon. Furthermore there are depictions of Pyramus and Thisbe, a Nereid riding a dragon and finally Hero and Leander. The outermost border shows hunting scenes with double-headed eagles in the corners. The courtly concept of the ideal ruler is central and again supplemented by religious elements, but new features were introduced: the four continents, the story of Arion and the story of Hercules. The aspect of cosmic rule was stressed in the zodiac colcha; here it is the aspect of worldly rule, represented by the four continents in the middle field. The programme alludes to the heroic deeds of the Portuguese or rather Iberians in all four known continents – a rule of the world under Spanish Christian supervision. The religious aspect is configured solely in Mary and the pelican as a symbol of Christ and the Avis. The central ruler is accompanied here by two of his personified qualities in the form of Hercules, his active and adventurous side, and Arion, his contemplative and intellectual side. The intellectualised courtly aspect is also emphasised by the mythological border. Scenes were introduced here that used to be in positions that were more prominent on the colchas (such as Actaeon and Pyramus and Thisbe), illustrating the openness and flexibility of the programme.

22. PHAETON COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century, pre-1640 339 x 275 cm Chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch, fringes; embroidery in yellow tussar silk on an undyed white cotton ground Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Inv. PNS5730483 From the collection of the Palácio das Neccessidades, treasury of King D. Fernando II, in the palace in Sintra since 1940.

482 Brumble, 1998, pp. 154. 483 See: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=1005525 (consulted 10.9.2012)

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22a. Phaeton colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century, pre-1640; Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Inv. PNS 5730;

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22b. Detail middle field with Jupiter taking down Phaeton’s chariot

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22c. Sketch Phaeton colcha, Centre: Jupiter taking down chariot, 1. Helios and Phaeton in pavillon, 2. Helios and Phaeton, 3. His sisters prepare the horses, 4. Helios and Phaeton approaching chariot, 5. Phaeton guiding chariot, 6. Phaeton losing control, 7. Crying sisters, 8. Ceres and Jupiter, 9. Pelican/double-headed eagle (below), 10. Story of Arion, 11. Scenes from the life of Hercules, 12. Three scenes abduction of Proserpina, 13.Blind Cupid, 14. Pyramus and Thisbe, 15.Ulysses and Penelope, 16. Judgement of Solomon, 17. Judgement of Paris, 18. Hero and Leander, 19. Actaeon, 20. Polyxena, Medusa or Inês de Castro, 21. Scrollwork, 22. Double-headed eagle, 23. Hunting scenes

This excellently preserved colcha is part of the collection of the Palácio Nacional in Sintra, the former summer residence of the Kings of Portugal, and once belonged to the royal family. The colcha forms the centre piece of the mestrado of Susana Pedroso, who also discusses it in great detail.484 The conclusions reached are not the same in all details however. Given its importance, the piece is also discussed in thie study. The piece is densely embroidered; a delicately undulating vine scroll with flowers decorates the guard stripes – a rare feature comparable to the blue colcha from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 5). The assured style and the parallels in iconography provide hints to a dating parallel to the Salomon colchas to the first third of the seventeenth century. Four borders surround the rectangular middle field where the eponymous story of Phaeton is displayed in the nine fields – narrated among others by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, II, 1–366.485 The youth included in the depicted scenes – written PHAETONTE in the Portuguese inscriptions – was the son of Helios, the sun god, designated SOL (the sun) on the colcha. Phaeton persuades his father to let him guide the chariot of the sun just once. The father can484 Pedroso, 2003. pp. 121–145. 485 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 888.

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not refuse, but Phaeton, too weak to dominate the four horses of the chariot, burns the earth. Jupiter, listening to the complaints of Terra (TERA), the goddess of the earth, intervenes and hurls a bolt of lightening, destroying the chariot; Phaeton falls burning from the sky. The weeping Heliades, Phaeton’s sisters, bury the youth’s body and transform it into poplars. Ovid, from whose Metamorphoses, this episode was probably taken, admires the deed but at the same time warns of the thoughtless, youthful ambition which Phaeton represents. Typologically, Phaeton’s story was likened to Lucifer’s revolt and his fall.486 The narrative starts in the lower left side in one of the four quarter-circles in the corners of the middle field and continues clockwise. Inscriptions in Portuguese frame the scenes and end in dragon heads. Written in Portuguese, these inscriptions indicate not only the commissioners, but also the clientele purchasing the textiles, the educated Portuguese upper-class. Linguistically interesting is the fact that some nouns were declined in Latin (e.g. in the inscription explaining one of the deeds of Hercules: GERIAM [accusative]) and were not formed with prepositions as in modern Portuguese. Perhaps they were directly adapted from Latin in Bengal and given to the embroiderers in this form. Though they contain many spelling errors and are awkwardly abridged and simplified in some instances, the inscriptions are almost always decipherable and correspond to the depicted scene. The inscription initialising the story of Phaeton says: O SOL ESTANDO EM SEV TRONO SEV FILHO DHAEIHOTE [=Phaetonte] O VEIO487 (- Sol – the sun god – sits on his throne, his son Phaeton sees him.) In the circle-segment of the middle field stands a remarkable temple-like pavilion, mixing European and Indian elements, in a landscape with birds and some flowers. Sol, his head resembling the sun, receives his son. The story continues with father and son walking together. Sol orders the horses to be prepared and hands over his rays, commented in the inscription: O SOL OS RAIOS (de) SVA CABESA TIRE COM SVA MAO OS POE MNA E [na mão de?] PHAETONTE SEV FILHO (- Sol takes the sunrays off his head, with his hand and hands them over to Phaeton his son.) This scene is shown in a corner segment. Phaeton is sitting in a chariot that is more of a raised platform with a small pavilion on wheels, reminiscent of Indian architecture. Between this segment and the next is a well known symbol, the pelican opening its breast to feed its brood. In the following corner segment Phaeton is happily driving the horses but the inscription says: PHAETONTE VENDO OS CAVALOS E NAO OBED[e]SIAO A SEV GOVERNO COMO PAS MANDO NAO SABE O Q[ue] [h]A DE FAZER (- Phaeton sees that the horses no longer obey his orders when he orders peace, he does not know what to do.) In the following image Phaeton is helplessly gesticulating with his hands. The horses are running hither and thither, the canopy falls off the chariot; he has lost control. His sisters, the Heliades, witness the scene from below, foresee his fate, and despair. They stand beside a small fountain of European inspiration consisting of three basins, one placed above the other. In the next corner segment Terra 486 Brumble, 1998, p. 267. 487 Not all inscriptions of the colcha are transcribed and translated in the text.

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complains to Jupiter and asks for his help. On approaching the earth the chariot burns it. A band of clouds extends under the two gods and indicates the heavenly sphere of Olympus. A crowned double-headed eagle is placed between the two lower semicircles, probably hinting at Habsburg rule. The rectangular centre shows Jupiter’s determined reaction: IVPITER LANSA SEVS RAIOS CONTRA O CARO DO SOL E O FAS EM PEDASO SRERA NAO AVER MAIS INSENDIO (- Jupiter throws his lightning bolts against the chariot and destroys it; he hopes that there will be no more fire.) The mighty god wears a long mantle, he is surrounded by birds and stands on a band of clouds; from his heavenly sphere he casts the bolts of lightning. Directly underneath him are the dispersed remains of the smashed chariot and the body of the youth; huts and trees burn next to Phaeton’s smoking body. Four borders surround the middle field. The innermost border deals almost exclusively with the story of Arion and is told in the same way as on the Solomon colcha with the four continents (cat. no. 21), proving that the same models were used and indicating that the colchas of the Solomon and Phaeton group were produced in the same or related workshops. The only difference between the two examples is that inscriptions describe every individual scene on this colcha. In the Arion border are two fields with scenes from the life of Hercules, repetitions of the outer Hercules border. As before, the story starts in the upper centre of the colcha; the inscriptions follow, for example: HISTORIA DE ARION COMO O SEV CANTO DETINHA A CORRENTE DO RIO (- Story of Arion: how his song stopped the current of a river.) Or: O FALCAM E AS POMBAS ESTAVAM JVNTOS OVVINDO O CANTO DE ARION (- Falcons and pigeons were listening together to the songs of Arion.) After Arion embarks, the narrative is interrupted by the two scenes illustrating deeds of Hercules: the fight against the dragon of the Hesperides and the fight against the centaur. Subsequently the story of Arion is taken up again: ARION ESTA PERA SE LANSARI NO MAR (- Arion is about to throw himself into the sea.) And finally: IVPITER POS O DELFIN NO CEO E LHE DEV POR SINAL NOVE ESTRELAS (- Jupiter transferred the dolphin into the sky and gave him nine stars as a sign.) A band of clouds indicating the heavenly sphere is placed under the father of the gods. With the exception of three fields the next border is dedicated to the life and deeds of Hercules. This border almost repeats the Hercules borders of the Solomon colchas with the four continents (cat. no. 21). The first inscription on top of the border provides the title: AS SANHAS DE HERCVLES * HERCVLES MATOV O LEAM DA SERRA NEMEA (The myths of Hercules: Hercules killed the Nemean lion). The following inscriptions further describe the hero’s deeds in a very simple language, such as: HERCVLES TIRA HIPLOITA DO INFERNO ENTREGA A SEV MARIDO THESEV (- Hercules pulls Hyppolita out of the inferno and brings her to her husband Theseus). Or: HERCVLES TIRA ARCIA DO MAR E PELE COM NERTVNO E MONSTROS DO MAR (- Hercules pulls Argia out of the sea and fights with Neptune and sea monsters). In one case the inscription provides the correct source of the depiction: FASTOS.LIB.II*HERCVLES NIA (?) COM SVA DAMA E FAVNO OS VIO (- Fasti. Lib. II. Hercules

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with his Lady – Omphale – the Faun sees them.) This corresponds to the actual localisation of this story of Hercules and Omphale in Ovid’s Fasti, 2. 303–358. It is thus quite certain that an illustrated copy of the Fasti was at the disposition of the commissioner or even the embroiderer. Three square fields in this border depict another story from antique mythology which is inscribed as the rape of Proserpina, daughter of Terra/Ceres, goddess of the earth. This too was narrated among others by Ovid in his Fasti, IV, 417–454.488 The first scene depicts the moment just before the abduction in which the fair young goddess decorates her maids with flowers. The next scene is titled with: E OIE PLUTAM COM PROSERPINA SVAS CRIADAS FAZEM GRANDE PRANTO (- Look Pluto with Proserpina, her servants cry). Proserpina is abducted by Pluto on his chariot torn by dragons. Her servants run helplessly after her. And in the last scene: QVEIXA SE CERES A IUPITER QUE ROVBARAM SVA FILHA (Ceres, complains to Jupiter that her daughter was robbed). In an almost Solomonic judgement, not depicted on the colcha, Jupiter decides that her daughter would stay with her for six months a year. Formally the scene is an exact repetition of Ceres/Terra in the middle field who complains to Jupiter in the myth of Phaeton. The third border is illustrated with scenes that almost repeat the mythological borders on the Solomon colchas. Here they are placed into spiralling vine scrolls sprouting flowers and supported by stag-headed men and masks. Squares frame the episodes in the corners and canopies held in place by mermaids frame the fields in the middle of each border: The square on top is illustrated with the blindfold and winged Cupid riding on a lion, followed by Pyramus and Thisbe in the corner and then Ulysses returning to Penelope. A formerly central scene found a new place: It is remarkable that the scene that gave the name to one of the largest existing group of Bengal colchas is set into the following corner square of this border as the only biblical scene: the Judgement of Solomon. The king sits on a chair with the two women kneeling in front of him. This somewhat misplaced element illustrates that embroiderers and commissioners handled the meaning of individual scenes in the borders with not too much afterthought. The next spaces tell the stories of the judgement of Paris, also formerly in a more prominent position, Hero and Leander, Actaeon, and finally the scene of Polyxena lifting her hand who is about to be decapitated by two flanking knights. A hunting border with double-headed eagles in the corners frames the whole colcha and shows very similar hunting motifs as on the Solomon colchas. The story of Phaeton dominates the colcha. Jupiter replaces Solomon as determined personification of the model ruler; the former stressing justice, the latter punishment. Two prominently placed symbols within the middle field recall the power of the Christian faith and very probably standing for Habsburg Spanish rule in the rightful succession for the Avis dynasty: the self sacrificing pelican, standing for the Avis and the crowned double-headed eagle, standing for the Habsburgs. The borders of Arion and Hercules illustrate the ideal ruler’s active and passive side and together with the hunting and mythological border emphasise the erudite 488 Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. II, p. 858.

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courtly aspect. Arion and Hercules stress the element of the good and righteous life, which ends with their induction into heavenly spheres; Phaeton takes the opposite direction, falling down from heaven. This sets the two heroes of the border in contrast to the headstrong youth. The punishment takes up the central square. The ruler, personified by Jupiter himself, cruelly punishes the digressions of Phaeton. His divine justice predominates throughout the entire composition and provides an example for all earthly rulers. In at least one instance story was used in contemporary Spanish historiography as well, in 1599 Phaeton was likened to the “undisciplined” rebellious Netherlands that had to be tamed by the righteous king.489 The indirect influence this conflict had on colcha production will be discussed later. The programme refers to divine judgement, not dissimilar to Solomon’s biblical judgement, albeit somewhat more threatening: as such, it had different readings, depending on the context. Given the historical context, it could be understood as a threat to Bengal’s Portuguese settlers who lived “in a manner like wild men, and untamed horses, for every man doth there what hee will, and every man is Lord [and maister]”490 as Linschoten stated. The just ruler – in this case the viceroy in Goa or the Inquisition as long arms of the Habsburg King of Portugal – would punish their heresies. It could also be interpreted more generally as advice to the Portuguese living under Habsburg rule, represented by the crowned double-headed eagle, not to act too independently, since just, royal punishment was awaiting them, as it was in the Netherlands. This interpretation raises such questions as who the commissioners of this type of programme were: Goan officials, faithful to the Spanish king? Given the presence of the double-headed eagle, a dating to before 1640 is probable, when the Habsburgs still ruled over Portugal. What can be deduced from the numbers of colchas surviving with this programme; they were not nearly as successful as the more benevolently interpretable Solomon colchas. The colcha’s survival in the royal palace of the Bragança, opponents of the Habsburgs, also fits oddly into this picture.

23. PHAETON COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 243 x 185 cm (fragment) Embroidery in yellow tussar silk on an undyed white cotton foundation chain stitch, backstitch and knot stitch Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4588 tec491

489 Valle de la Cerda, L., Avisos en material de estado y Guerra…, Madrid: 1599, quoted from: Rodriguez Perez, 2007, p. 291. 490 Burnell/Tiele, 1935, vol. I, p. 95. 491 The colcha was acquired at an auction in Lisbon at Correio Velho for 1,600,000 escudos (about 16,000 euros).

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23. Sketch Phaeton colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventee nth century, pre-1640; (fragment); Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4588 tec; 1. Phaeton and Helios, 2. Helios embraces Phaeton, 3. Preparation of horses, 4. Helios and Phaeton on the chariot, 5. Phaeton on chariot, 6. Phaeton losing control, 7. Crying sisters, 8. Ceres and Jupiter, 9. Juptier taking down Phaeton‘s chariot, 10. Animals around trough, 11. Fighting animals, palm tree, 12. Story of Arion, 13. Scenes from the life of Hercules, 14. Hunting border with mythological scenes, 15. Lions (See colour plate 6)

The upper third of the colcha is missing, but despite being a fragment it is one of the most valuable colchas of the Bengal group because of its extraordinary quality of execution (See colour plate 6). The cotton foundation is densely stitched with backstitch, rendering the textile very stable. The compartment frames and guard stripes of aligned blossoms again predominate as an element of organisation. The colcha has three borders. Compared to the former piece, the border with mythological scenes was omitted, indicating they were not essential for the iconographic programme to work. Inscriptions, similar to the aforementioned, again explain the individual scenes. The layout of the middle field differs from the colcha studied above. The corners are not emphasised with circle segments and the centre is more elaborately structured through a large rectangle with rounded extensions at each side; this structure is subdivided, forming nine compartments. The illustration of the story of Phaeton starts in the upper middle and continues clockwise. The same models were used as in the colcha from Sintra. Peacocks are placed decoratively in some of the fields. Two of the scenes contain a curved cloud band. The story starts with Phaeton kneeling in front of Helios, but the temple-like architecture was omitted because of lack of space. At the right Helios embraces his son, who is cut by the compartment frame. The harnessing of the horses follows with Helios instructing his son in the chariot, and Phaeton cruising confidently into the air. However, in the following

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picture in the lower left corner, Phaeton loses control. The Heliades observe this and weep near the fountain, and finally we see Ceres/Terra in front of Jupiter complaining her fate, followed by the destruction of the chariot and the death of insolent youth. In the previous colcha much space was taken by the furor of Jupiter in the very centre, here Jupiter takes only a small space above the falling Phaeton, the focus of attention. In a semicircle below the centre a winged snake is depicted with two unicorns feeding out of one trough – a common scene on Solomon colchas. It is possible that a pelican or a crowned double-headed eagle decorated the upper circle, which is now missing. Adjacent to the central rectangle are elaborate palm trees; diverse animals are stitched in perfect detail around the central field: monkeys, fighting bears, buffalos, an elephant pressing down a lion, two fighting lions and another winged lion flying off with an elephant in his claws. A Mughal Indian carpet from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and a Mughal album painting of the Victoria and Albert Museum, both from around the same time as the colcha, depict a similar scene of a gaja-simha, half lion half elephant, a symbol of sovereignty and strength in Indian mythology. On the carpet and the manuscript the composite animal holding seven elephants is attacked by the Persian simurgh, the famous bird of the Shahname epic.492 Details were adapted; the lion’s head has bird features and above it a small bird is flying, a simplified simurgh from the model, in its claws only one elephant. This once again illustrates the wide variety of models from which the embroiderers could draw their inspiration and the freedom with which they integrated them. The animal fight motifs around the central field, too, are comparable to motifs on Mughal carpets from the late Akbar period.493 The rendering of houses on the Boston Mughal carpet shows a comparable treatment of space as on the colchas. Moreover, the palatial setting – e.g. two men communicating in a pavilion – is similar on many colchas as well. Cultural contacts between the courts of Iran, North India and Bengal were close. Robert Skelton has published a sultanate manuscript from Bengal as one of the few surviving manuscripts of the Bengal Sultanate, providing a glance at the sumptuous Bengali court life and stylistically illustrating the cultural link to these courts.494 There were probably more manuscripts and works of decorative arts of Safavid Iranian inspiration at the Sultanate of Bengal court that served as a model to the craftsmen of the official workshops, as long as they existed. The similarity of motifs on the Boston Mughal carpet, the Mughal album painting and the colcha shows that Sultanate Indian and Mughal art influenced colcha design. The two inner borders of the colcha are each dedicated to Hercules and Arion, just as before. Inscriptions describe the episodes. The wording and scenes are almost the same as in the former colcha. The hunt is once again the main subject of the outermost border where lions fill the corner squares. The border is rendered in great detail, representing 492 Walker, 1997, p. 38-39. 493 Walker, 1997, p. 38-56. 494 Skelton, 1978.

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the most fascinating hunting border of all known colchas. Rare motifs unusual for the colchas were added, including an elephant kneeling down to let people climb onto its back and monkeys on trees, drawn from Indian models. Interestingly in addition to animals and hunting scenes, some mythological elements were integrated into the hunting border such as a scene from the story of Actaeon and Diana, again illustrating the flexibility of the programme’s individual elements. This fits in well, since Actaeon is himself a hunter. Also represented is a shepherd, identifiable with Orpheus, sitting under a tree in front of his herd. In view of the lack of the double-headed-eagle, which was perhaps cut, this colcha cannot be linked to Habsburg rule as easily as before. The royal threat embodied by Jupiter persists in the programme even though some details were omitted or cut.

Unique Colchas: Bengal textile production was very varied and apart from colchas fitting into one of the groups discussed above, pieces exist that cannot be attributed to either one or the other subgroup. This is illustrated by the four colchas described as follows. Because of their style and content they can be attributed with a high degree of certainty to the Bengal production in the Satgaon/Hugli region. Based on their idiosyncratic iconographic programme it can be assumed that at least three of the textiles were special commissions by and for dignitaries living in the Estado da Índia or in Portugal. Considering that it would have taken a special commission several years to reach its owner from Portugal, it is more plausible that the colchas were commissioned by Portuguese agents or dignitaries in Goa, who then sent them back to Lisbon as trade goods or presents, as the aforementioned merchants Francesco Carletti and Filippo Sassetti had done. The following pieces illustrate the richness of Bengali colcha production and show iconographies that differ strikingly from the pieces discussed so far.

24. THE BATTLEFIELD COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, first half seventeenth century 311 x 278 cm Silk embroidery in white yellow and diverse notions of blue and red on a green silk foundation in tabby weave, embroidery largely in chain stitch Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4575495

The colcha’s iconography is not as complex as that of the Solomon colchas; it depicts two battles recognisable as such at first sight (See colour plate 7).496 The simple layout of the 495 Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. Includes lac dye, typical for India. 496 See: Varadarajan, 2005, pp. 251–260.

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colcha consists of one border framing a large middle field. No known Bengal colcha contains a larger middle field. However, the use of colours not only for the foundation fabric but also for the embroidery is very rare in Bengal colcha production (other examples being: cat. nos. 5 and 8). The polychrome embroideries render these pieces more accessible to the eye. The embroidery is rather coarse in execution. The style of the figures depicted leaves little doubt that the colcha originated in a Bengali workshop in the Satogan/Hugli region roughly during the first half of the seventeenth century. Because of its martial content and its orientation, the colcha was most probably intended as a hanging. The border surrounding the large middle field is – not surprisingly – decorated with hunting scenes. The different colouring renders the details more evident even though the embroidery is coarser than on many other colchas; in fact even the animals are coloured. Hunters and soldiers are shown in colourful clothing providing an idea of how Portuguese colonial society dressed. The Portuguese living in the Estado used Indian textiles for their clothes but largely adhered to European cuts, the result was a vivacious fashion created by a mixture of Indian material and adapted European style that increased the visual appeal, such as the capes from Bengal. Portuguese colonial fashion was much better adapted to the Indian climate than the heavy textiles of the rigid Spanish fashion. The hunting borders’ guard stripe features an undulating vine scroll, very similar to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum colcha (cat. no. 25) or a blue prototype piece from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 5). A narrow band divides the central field into an upper field and a lower field, which each shows different scenes of battle. There are no inscriptions telling which battles are fought on the colcha or who is fighting whom. Both parties wear European costume, and the fortress standing in the lower field in the middle of a once bucolic landscape seems European as well. It is not known whether the two battles are part of the same war. The artillery depicted hints at a contemporary battle scene. The history of the Portuguese expansion was also a history of forceful conquests, but the main battles were fought at sea or near the sea and with significant support by the armada, which was the pride and the actual strength of the Portuguese. Neither sea nor ships are depicted on the colcha. Battle scenes were exceedingly popular in Europe, one example is the famous battle of Alexander the Great by Albrecht Altdorfer from 1529 (today Alte Pinakothek Munich). However, also in Mughal India of that time (especially in paintings in court chronicles such as the Padshahnama), they stressed the strength of the respective armies and the sovereigns’ claim to power. The colcha’s middle field shows ten lines of soldiers to the left, five are part of the upper and five belong to the lower army. About one thousand soldiers are involved in the two battles; in terms of quantity that is quite a realistic depiction of a smaller martial confrontation of that time. The left side of the field is all order and discipline, the middle focuses on the fights, and the right is pretty chaotic in both battles and enhances neither symmetry nor perspective. The individual lines of battle at the left are arranged in a fairly uniform way with four soldiers carrying muskets and lances standing in orderly fashion one above the

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other; (owing to the lack of perspective) the viewer looks at them as if from the side. In contrast, the right side offers a bird’s eye view onto the scenes with seemingly chaotic fighting in which victory is not yet certain to either one or the other of the opponents. The upper half shows an army marching to the left, with another army rapidly approaching from the right. The middle of each of the five lines of battle is accentuated by a man on horseback, probably the commander of the group. The engagements take place symmetrically along the central axis of the middle field. Usually the approaching enemy was first decimated by musket bursts and then attacked with lances and swords. On the colcha, the artillery stands behind the infantry and is therefore unable to shoot for they would kill their combatants and not the enemy. The commissioners and embroiderers, it seems, were no specialists in strategic contemporary warfare, or they chose an unrealistic model. The counterattack is launched from a small hill with trees and small rocks, the latter clearly of Chinese inspiration. The attack from above places them in a more advantageous position. The lower half consists, as above, of an army marching to the left, and a besieged fortress to the right. The cavalry horses are executed in vivid detail. The fortress in the lower right corner has walls similar to those of the small fortresses in the borders of the following colcha from the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. However, it is much larger, consisting of brick or stone squares and trenches dug out in front of it. Mighty towers armed with canons fortify the corners and some houses are within the walls. The cavalry leaves the fortress in order to defend it. The besieger approaches with huge wooden siege towers. Even though the fortress seems strong, the image leaves the victory of the siege open. In all the colcha shows four armies in contemporary European armour and arms facing each other. Apart from the exotic features in the hunting border and some plants, there is no indication whatsoever that the viewer is dealing here with a battle between an army of an Indian or African country and the Portuguese.497 There is no flag or any other indicator that would tell otherwise. Nor are ships depicted, which would in the colonial context allude to the deeds of the glorious part of the Portuguese expansion. The colcha depicts two battles, that is evident, but these battles are not attributable with certainty to any contemporary battle. Nonetheless the colcha would fit into a Portuguese palatial environment, for instance of some Goan official, perhaps as a cheaper substitute for the splendidly expensive Brussels tapestries.

497 Varadarajan, 2005, p. 257. It was suggested that the siege of Diu was depicted on the colcha.

25. Colcha with Triumphal Arch – Third Phase, Compact Group

25. COLCHA WITH TRIUMPHAL ARCH – THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal, Hugli region, second quarter seventeenth century, 1624–1650 267 x 211 cm Embroidery in light yellow bombyx mori silk on a blue tussar silk foundation in tabby weave; chain stitch, knot stitch Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, Boston, Inv. T20e4498

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The colcha499 – originally used as a hanging as suggested by the vertical orientation of the design – was acquired for 1010 francs by Ms Gardener in 1897 in Paris from the Emile Peyre Collection.500 It was sold as a Spanish cover in blue and white suggesting an Iberian provenance.501 The foundation of this textile is of blue silk which was actually not uncommon even though in most cases the foundation consisted of white cotton. Four Bengal colchas exist featuring the same blue foundation material. One is from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon (cat. no. 5; there is also a fragment with a blue foundation in the same museum) and another is in the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, while two others were quoted by Pedro Moura Carvalho in his article dealing with this textile.502 Besides, there are several other Bengal colchas with a coloured foundation. The execution of the embroidery on this colcha is somewhat coarser than that of the finest examples of the Bengal group because of the hardly twisted bombyx mori silk thread used for the embroidery. The basic layout of the colcha features three surrounding borders and a large middle field where the strictly symmetrical dividing scheme seen on the other Bengal colchas made way for a more unusual design: a large architectural façade. The decoration of the borders, however, is very similar in style and content to other Bengal colchas. Hunting scenes are depicted in the outermost border. Its corners are accentuated by self-sacrificing pelicans relating to the pelicans in the middle field. The second border shows a seemingly random selection of scenes of mythological characters already encountered in other Bengal colchas. They enhance the otherworldly aspect of the colcha and were chosen for their general mythological and decorative value rather than for their concrete content. There are six Roman gods on their chariots, but no inscriptions referring to them as the seven planets of the zodiac. Their presence is an allusion to the zodiac, depicted elaborately on other colchas (cat. no. 20), but not a representation, since the gods are randomly dispersed along the four sides of the border, moreover, the zodiac signs in the wheels of the planetary chariots are incorrectly attributed, and one planet 498 499 500 501 502

Moura Carvalho, 2008, p. 61 (Catalogue entry by Tess Fredette) On the same colcha see also: Moura Carvalho, 2008, pp. 8–22; Karl, 2010b, pp. 255–268. Cavallo, 1986, p. 200. A “couvre-pieds espagnol, blanc et bleu...” as quoted in: Moura Carvalho, 2008, pp. 8–22. Moura Carvalho, 2008, pp. 8–22.

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25a. Colcha with triumphal arch, Bengal, Hugli region, second quarter seventeenth century, 1624– 1650; Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, Boston, Inv. T20e4

god is missing altogether. Additionally, different mythological figures ride diverse fantastic animals alongside the six gods, Hercules fights a dragon, and two scenes fragmentarily depict the story of an archer, who liberates an eagle by shooting the snake wrapped round its body. This scene may be interpreted as a fight between good and evil and is depicted on a

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colcha from the Victoria & Albert Museum as well.503 At the right of the middle field, still within the border, are two small episodes with men jumping on or standing on bulls. Bull fights have a long standing tradition on the Iberian Peninsula and images of it may have inspired the craftsmen, even though many Indians had a different attitude towards the bovine species, considering them sacred. This border is further accentuated by four medallions depicting kings placed in each corner. They are recognisable as Portuguese kings by the cross on their breasts of the Portuguese Order of Christ, the successor order of the Templars in Portugal. This shows them as defenders of the true faith. In 1603 Friar Bernardo de Brito published the book Elógio dos Reis de Portugal com os seus mais verdadeiros Retratos (Eulogy of the Portuguese kings with their most authentic portraits).504 The portraits in the book are very similar to those on the colcha and very probably served as models for the embroiderers and provide an indication for the colcha’s date: 1603, the date the book was published, providing a first plausible terminus post quem for its production. Four fortresses manned by soldiers are located in the middle of each side of the second border. The medallions including the simplified royal portraits as well as the fortresses overlap into the innermost border connecting both. Each of the abridged fortresses is shown in bird’s eye perspective including walls and four towers armed with canons. Forts as instruments of dominance and control were built along the Portuguese sea routes in Africa, South America and around the Indian Ocean in order to secure the Portuguese trade routes. They are depicted in connection with the portraits of Portuguese kings and can therefore be interpreted as representing Portuguese dominance; there is a special emphasis on the sea represented in the third, the innermost border decorated with maritime scenes – seen on many Solomon colchas – alluding to the idea of the Portuguese domination of the oceans. The border is full of fantastic and hybrid creatures of different origins divided by a twisted undulating rope. The exceptional presence of kings in medallions and fortresses in the borders – when juxtaposed to the more typical features of hunts, maritime scenes and mythological scenes in the Bengal colchas – lend an additional meaning to this part of the colcha: as previously suggested similarly for another colcha, the borders in the context of and in relation to the middle field should be interpreted as an epitome of the vast Portuguese dominions on land, at sea and throughout the cosmic sphere represented by the middle border. The design of the middle field has nothing in common with any of the other colchas of the Bengal production, for it is dominated by a large, free standing triumphal arch endowed with branches and medallions, an example of vegetal architecture recalling ephem503 This episode of the archer liberating the eagle from the snake is illustrated on a colcha from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, (Inv. No. 616–1886). This colcha is part of the group of the Solomon colchas with the zodiac. It is interesting that two quite unique features of the Solomon-zodiac group, the zodiac and the story of the archer, were used in the colcha of the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. This illustrates the closeness of production. 504 Brito, 1603. The author thanks Anísio so for indicating this publication.

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eral festive architecture. Ephemeral triumphal arches similar to this one (but without the branches), were erected for special occasions, such as festive entries. The stone arch of the viceroys in Goa is just one non-ephemeral example of this in the Portuguese overseas context. The arch embroidered on the colcha is one of the rare instances in which the exact model for the embroidered colcha can be identified with certainty, even though it was modified by the Indian embroiderers. It is in an etching from the book Viaje de la Catholica Real Magestad del Rei D. Filipe III. N.S. al reino de Portugal (Journey of the Royal Catholic Majesty, King Philip III to the Kingdom of Portugal) published in 1622 by João Baptista Lavanha, the royal chronicler and cosmographer, who commissioned the etchings and meticulously described the programme of the entry in the book. One of the triumphal arches depicted served as model for one of the representations of Solomon on the colchas (cat. no. 20). The Arco dos Flamengos (Arch of the Flemish) from the 1619 entry into Lisbon was almost exactly copied by the embroiderers in the middle field of the colcha.505 The publication date of the book, 1622, provides the next terminus post quem for the dating of the textile.

The entrée solennelle and the Printed Arch In 1619 the city of Lisbon was sumptuously decorated for the official entry of King Philip III, who ruled Spain, Portugal and their overseas possessions. As elaborated before, the entry’s programme was in parts similar to a former entry by Philip’s father King Philip II in 1581. Topics such as the ideal ruler, the eternal justice of the sovereign and the legitimacy of his dynasty were typical subjects for such triumphal arches. Central to the entire programme of King Philip III’s entry to Lisbon was the idea of the universal dimension of his dominions; the king should be reminded of Lisbon’s central position in his seaborne empire and as Europe’s gate to the oceans of the world. In this there are certain conceptual parallels to the programmes of Bengal colchas discussed so far. During the rule of the Habsburgs, Lisbon felt increasingly neglected by the Spanish kings, who showed tendencies towards centralising power. The city was “hoping for Your long awaited royal presence.”506 Besides the arches of institutions, such as the Inquisition or guilds, there were the arches of the foreign merchants, such as the Flemish, who at that time were in an awkward situation because of the continuous wars of independence in the Netherlands. This conflict was the subject of the programme of their festive architecture, which was then transposed onto print and later to colcha. The triumphal arch of the Flemish stood in the former Rua Nova, the main street, which ran parallel to the river Tagus. The three-storied architectural structure with lateral volutes on its top was typical of early European Baroque, strongly influenced by Sebastiano Serlio’s treatises, and decorated with a complex iconographic programme including sculptures and paintings of emblems, allegories, Sibyls and the personifications of the seventeen 505 The author’s former colleagues from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Celina Bastos, Anísio Franco and Maria João Vilhena indicated this source. 506 Senos, 2003, p. 59.

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provinces of Gallia Belgica – the Netherlands. The complex programme, quite mannerist in concept, was explained and adapted in the publication. It reflected the political situation in the Spanish Netherlands. Only nine of its provinces had remained loyal to the Spanish king, the others wanted secession. A mechanism, supported by ropes connecting the coat of arms in the centre with personifications of the provinces, covered and uncovered an allegory of Discordia (representing the War of Secession). By operating the mechanism Discordia would vanish when the king approached and the provinces would be reunited. A Latin inscription on the arch stressed the longing for harmony by expressing the Flemish merchants’ desire for the peaceful reunion of their home country under the aegis of the King of Spain.507 Attached to the arch were the portraits of the Dukes of Brabant, starting with Pippin the Elder and running through the Habsburgs up to Archduke Albrecht and Isabella Clara Eugenia his wife, the current stadtholders.508 The Flemish merchants were understandably concerned; after all, in order to flourish and successfully conduct their business they needed a definite end to the wars, which had its repercussions overseas. Apart from the personifications of the provinces, the personifications of virtues, allegories and emblems were distributed over the whole arch. They are all described in detail in Lavanha’s book and glorify Habsburg rule. The uppermost figure on the printed arch represents the blindfolded Cupid riding on a lion, an image also seen on some other Solomon colchas; the Latin inscription SIC FORTIA VINCIS (in this way you defeat the strong) underneath the Cupid is visible only on the etching but was not transposed onto the colcha; it is to be understood as an appeal to the king to win the war in the Netherlands not by the force of arms but through the power of love – advice the Spaniards did not follow: in 1648 the United Provinces of the Netherlands were officially declared independent. The Spanish-Habsburg coat of arms, surrounded by the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece, tops the composition on the print, visually representing the subjection of the Netherlands under the rule of the Spanish kings. Like the Netherlands, Portugal was part of the Habsburg Empire and felt neglected by the central authority. The two countries’ reaction to this neglect, which tended towards oppression, was different but had similar results: eventually both countries, or at least parts of them, became independent. The long absence of the king from Lisbon and its subsequent loss of importance fomented tendencies towards independence within the Portuguese nobility headed by the Bragança family, the future royal dynasty. The programme of the 1619 entry stressed the importance of Lisbon and its overseas dominions and gave expression to the feelings of neglect and abandonment. Portugal sought to attract the attention of the king who resided far from Portugal in Madrid and wished to regain the importance it had as an independent and noteworthy kingdom during the time of the Aviz dynasty.509 The dense programme of the arch and the political circumstances of the time strongly hint at 507 Lavanha, 1622, p. 38. Including an elaborate description of the programme of the triumphal arch. 508 Lavanha, 1622, pp. 42–47. 509 Senos, 2003, pp. 48–61.

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the probability that the printed arch was not only chosen as a model for the colcha because of its balanced proportions, but because it was part of the entry of Philip III into Lisbon, a manifestation of Spanish power over Portugal.

The Embroidered Arch The embroidered arch on the colcha is not as detailed as the printed model. In the embroidery the general outline and three-storeyed structure of the engraved arch was maintained, but its decoration was much simplified. Inscriptions and details, especially the emblems, were not included in the colcha or were strongly modified. Where the details of the print were adapted – they were in fact mostly substituted by vine scrolls – they were so simplified that their meaning can no longer be identified and thus lost their concrete significance. The person standing under the archway establishing the proportion of the arch in the print was enlarged on the colcha but has no other meaning whatsoever for the iconography, neither in the print nor in the embroidery. The local embroiderers very probably neither understood the complex Latin inscriptions nor their political allusions and implications. However, the people – probably merchants – who were in charge of commissioning the colcha were surely aware of the significance of the entry of Philip III into Lisbon in which the arch played a vital part. Royal politics directly influenced the merchants’ field of action. Their daily bread depended on being well informed. The first storey of the embroidered arch consists of three archways separated by pilasters. Figures are depicted above two of the openings as on the model print. Details and the inscriptions present on the etching were omitted. The second storey is separated from the first by a cornice decorated with figures. Within the second storey there are unrecognisable emblems and statues, which on the print alluded to the rule of the Habsburg dynasty. The medallion between the two is dominated by the personification of Discordia surrounded by small coats of arms. Because the explanation and details have been omitted, neither these can be identified any more, nor the personification herself. A balustrade with four statues marks the third storey. Two volutes adorn the sides of a square in which the blindfold Cupid is riding on a lion. The large, somewhat modified coat of arms is placed under the gable.510 An allegorical figure stands on each side of the coat of arms, and four more statues are crowned with large tear-shaped forms. The Spanish coat of arms including the Portuguese was depicted on the print. On the colcha the Portuguese part of the coat of arms was much enlarged, but the Spanisch elements (such as castles and lions for Castilia and Leon) remain visible. Whether this was a deliberate choice of the commissioners to stress the importance of Portugal or an error of the embroiderers remains uncertain. 510 It features the characteristic 5 blazons in the field but is surrounded not by the usual castles but by lions and geometric elements.

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The arch on the colcha was combined with a genealogical tree, represented by branches growing out of the architecture. This notable addition, in all certainty ordered by the commissioner, significantly affects the meaning of the iconographic programme and transforms the arch into a genealogical tree. The most important conceptual model – and highly successful as propaganda – for combining an arch with a genealogical tree is the famous printed triumphal construction of Albrecht Dürer’s early sixteenth-century Ehrenpforte for the Emperor Maximilian I, a forefather of Philip III.511 Transforming the arch from the solemn entry into Lisbon into a genealogical tree integrated it into the tradition of enhancing the prestige of the depicted dynasty. In Lavanha’s book the genealogical tree attached to the arch of the Flemish through lateral paintings referred to the Dukes of Brabant, among them the Habsburgs. The solution of the branches growing out of the arch was most probably inspired by another print of Lavanha’s work, that of the arch of the plateros or silversmiths, suggesting that the entire book and not just parts of it arrived in Bengal.512 This arch included full length portraits of Portuguese kings, including Philip II (not Philip III). This raises the question as to which dynasty the embroidery referred to. The portraits of kings are similar to those on the border. They can be identified as Portuguese kings through the cross of the Order of Christ on their breasts. It is not entirely clear which Portuguese king is depicted in which medallion because no inscriptions are added, and their facial features are all very similar.513 All in all, there are twelve kings in medallions on this colcha (four in the second border and eight around the arch). The number twelve bears a symbolic meaning, alluding to the twelve kings of Judea or the twelve Apostles. Eight images of kings are in a more prominent position, placed in the small medallions ensuing directly out of the arch. It is no coincidence that the royal Portuguese dynasty of Aviz (1385–1580) consisted of eight kings,514 and, as mentioned above, the portraits in the medallions were probably copied from Friar Bernardo Brito’s royal Portuguese portraits. Thus it is highly probable that the genealogical tree depicts the Aviz kings; at the time of the production of the colcha they were long gone, but Portuguese maritime expansion developed under their rule, and their return was ardently desired in certain Portuguese circles. It is not by the way that around that time the literary term saudades was replete with symbolism.515 In this context it was the collective longing of the Portuguese people, facing neglect within the Spanish Empire, for the return of their past Great Age. Musicians and dancers, flowers and birds cavort in the spaces between the branches with the royal medallions, endowing the field a paradisiacal atmosphere, alluding to an ideal state of rule under the Aviz dynasty. In addition, symbols such as sun, moon and stars were 511 512 513 514

Schauerte, 2001. Lavanha, 1622, p. 38. In his article Pedro Moura Carvalho proposes a more exact attribution of the kings. Aviz dynasty (1385–1580): D. João I., D. Duarte, D. Afonso V., D. João II., D. Emanuel, D. João III., D. Sebastião and D. Henrique. 515 See also: Eduardo, 2001.

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added near the top of the triumphal arch. These symbols were clearly understood as Christian on the Bengal colchas and usually shown here in connection with the Virgin Mary, evoking the crucifixion of Christ. Another familiar Christian and dynastic feature can be seen in the prominently placed self-sacrificing pelican present in the two upper corners of the middle field and in the four corners of the outermost border. As explained before, this symbol is closely linked to the Aviz dynasty, especially to D. João II. As such it was explicitly depicted on the colcha published by Reynaldo dos Santos that will be discussed in the following.516 D. João II was not the only ruler to use the pelican but he strengthened the symbol by linking it to his personal motto. Interestingly and fittingly, Philip II, for whom large parts of the programme of the 1581 entry were originally destined (and who was related to the Avis dynasty through his mother), was also compared to the pelican in the context of the War of Independence in the Netherlands. The royal Spanish chaplain Pedro Cornejo likens his king to the mythical bird when he accuses the rebellious inhabitants of the Netherlands of supporting a candidate who was considered a liar and a hypocrite, William of Orange, instead of a mighty ruler who would preserve them (those blind and ungrateful children) “with blood from his own bosom like the pious pelican.”517 With this in mind, the self-sacrificing pelican can be read in direct connection to the Aviz kings depicted on the colcha but might also allude to Philip II. On the one hand there is the arch of the entrée solennelle, on the other the printed book and the embroidered textile. The same form has been employed in three different media and in three different sizes: ephemeral architecture, print, and embroidery. Transposing the content from one media to the other changed its meaning each time. In the colcha the concrete problematic of the War of Independence in the Netherlands is no longer of importance in the iconography; in fact most references to this specific event were left out in the embroidery. Leaving out the explanatory elements lost the exact meaning of many elements of the etching. Adding branches with medallions and changing the coat of arms endowed it a new meaning stressing the independent rule of Portugal under the Avis dynasty. However idealised in the programme of the actual 1619 entry, there was a strong movement demanding Portugal’s secession from Spain. The printed arch of the Flemish integrated a call for peace by the Flemish merchants but also hinted at the problematic of secession; in choosing it for the colcha, the commissioners indirectly referred to the threat of secession of Portugal from Spain, which in fact took place in 1640, and in adding the royal medallions they transformed it into a genealogical architecture celebrating a lost Golden Age and its dynasty, the Avis. The colcha is not explicit enough to date it to after 1640 with certainty, it can be read both ways: as a threat of pending secession or as a celebration of actual secession. It remains ambiguous. 516 Santos, 1970, pp. 204–209 517 Cornejo, P., Antiapología o contra defensa en dos partes dividida…, quoted from: Rodriguez Perez, 2007, pp. 285-302.

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The Colcha da Restauração Another colcha can be linked to the political circumstances of the time more explicitly and provides a strong hint to dating and context of the colcha of the ISGM, however without solving the riddle entirely. It was published in 1970 by Reynaldo dos Santos, who dedicated an entire chapter of his book Oito Séculos de Arte Portuguesa: História e Espírito to the description of Indian colchas.518 The colcha’s current whereabouts are unknown; Santos states that in 1940 it was stolen from its former owner, the art dealer James Hyde, from his residence in Versailles. Only old black and white photographs of this piece exist, used by Santos to describe it. This has to be kept in mind as the discussion proceeds. Based on its description from old photographs, this colcha leaves a lot of open questions concerning details of motifs, material, colour, style and technique.519 In terms of style, embroidery colour and technique, the two colchas are very close to the Solomon group with monochrome, robust figures and patterns in chain stitch. An element distinguishing them from the group is their dark-coloured silk foundation instead of a naturally white cotton foundation. The two colchas are as yet the only known elaborate narrative examples of Bengal production featuring a dark background foundation and monochromatic embroidery. In the case of the ISGM the foundation material is blue silk; the original colour of this colcha’s background is unknown. Strikingly, both colchas feature the same patterns in the framing borders and guard stripes. This raises the possibility that they were produced in the same or a related workshop. Perhaps they were even made as an ensemble of hangings. This assumption is as yet impossible to prove as size and backgraound colour of the colcha published by Santos are unknown. An element speaking against this hypothesis is the fact that the embroidery of the colcha described by Santos seems to be executed in a more detailed way. Adding the similarities of the ISGM colcha to the colcha published by Santos a dating of the ISGM colcha to post-1640 seems more probable because of the topic depicted on the second colcha. It carries the most detailed known contemporary representation of the events that led to Portuguese independence from Spain with the acclamation of D. João IV as Portuguese king on December 15, 1640, hence its name colcha da Restauração. Very few images illustrating the Restauração survive; one print relating to it was published and discussed recently by Pedro Cardim.520 Santos, who had better images of the colcha at his disposal than the present author, not only described the colcha but also transcribed its inscriptions.521 518 Santos, 1970, on colchas: pp. 193–226. 519 Santos saw the photographs in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. To the authors knowledge they do not exist there anymore. 520 Cardim, 2008, pp. 185–206. 521 Santos, 1970, pp. 204–209. Reynaldo dos Santos consulted the original photographs, then at the MNAA in Lisbon. While working there the author never came across them. Also important in the context of the arts and the Portuguese Restauração : Urte Krass, Wie zeigt man der Welt, dass man wieder

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25b. Colcha da Restauração, Bengal, Hugli region, 1642–1660, current whereabouts unknown. Published in: Santos, 1970, pp. 204–209. einen König hat? Die portugiesische Restauration von 1640 und ihre Bilder, Habilitationsprojekt at LMU Munich.

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Only a brief overview is given here: the layout of the textile is again quite simple, with two borders surrounding a middle field. The narrow outer border is filled with hunting scenes so characteristic of Bengal colchas, the much broader second border is divided into rectangular compartments, each of which is dedicated to an event of the story. The middle field is dominated by an elliptical form with lateral extensions and depicts the new kings’ acclamation and coronation. The chronology of the story unfolds in the second border, whose four corners are accentuated by small circle segments depicting the four elements. The border section above the middle field includes five compartments and shows the crowned Portuguese coat of arms flanked by heralds and below by two characteristic symbols linked to Portuguese royalty – to be more exact, the Aviz dynasty – the armillary sphere and a self-sacrificing pelican; both standing for kings who actively promoted Portuguese expansion, D. João II and D. Manuel I. The pelican’s association here with the coat of arms of Portugal is in fact a proof that the pelican can be interpreted as a dynastic symbol in the wider context of Bengal colchas. An illustration of Lisbon is depicted at the side of the coat of arms, and Vila Viçosa, the residence of the Dukes of Bragança, the family of the future King D. João IV is shown on the other side; each is followed by a compartment showing ships extolling the importance of the sea and the overseas possessions for the kingdom. This sequence of five compartments provides an introduction to the story, showing the king’s origin and dominions. In fact according to Santos, Restauração de Portugal is written in a band held by angels above the coat of arms, acting as the textile’s heading. Colchas only occasionally feature subtitles that clarify their interpretation; the Solomon colchas include none at all. A sequence of six compartments to the left of the middle field illustrates the preparations of the conjurers and introduces important characters, all mentioned in the subtitles: Antão Vaz de Almada, João Pinto Riberio and Pedro de Mendonça Furtado. They are shown in preparatory meetings with other conjurers in different places of the country; the scenes are densely populated with figures. The six compartments of the border below the middle field are dedicated to the persuasion in detail of the initially hesitant D. João, Duke of Bragança to join the revolt. Finally, the six compartments of the border to the right of the middle field show the different stages of the revolt in the palace in Lisbon and the following victory, including the assassination of Miguel de Vasconcelos, the last secretary of state of Philippine Portugal.522 The generous middle field lavishly illustrates the end of the story. Its corners show the four continents, over parts of which the future kings’ rule would spread. The central ellipse with extensions is dedicated to the coronation of D. João IV, its individual scenes are difficult to interpret from the photographs. The upper part shows palace scenes with musicians, below is the coronation of king and queen. Underneath, the leading courtiers are lined up hierarchically in five registers to pay homage. The lower part shows soldiers. The 522 Oliveira Marques, 1998, pp. 180-184.

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semi-circular extensions to the left and right of the coronation are filled with personifications of Portugal on a horse and India on a sacred cow – Brazil is not granted its own personification, alluding to the place of production, India, and the main consumer market, Portuguese Asia – the other colony Brazil was apparently not sufficiently important. Four small rectangles surrounding the acclamation represent the king’s new ambassadors to Sweden, England, France and probably the Netherlands – all opponents of the Spanish king in the Thirty Years War still ravaging Europe. They were about to be sent out to the respective countries so as to obtain the recognition of D. Joãos’ IV rule.523 The narrative Bengal colchas all used European models, provided in the form of prints, such as those mentioned above. With the Viaje de la Catholica Real Magestad del Rei D. Filipe III the ISGM colcha used a very politically charged publication as a model, yet the meaning of the colchas’ programme remains ambiguous. In contrast, the programme of the colcha da Restauração is explicit in its celebration of the newly gained independence. It is highly improbable that the complex subject matter of the colcha da Restauração was invented in Bengal itself. This raises the question of the model used for this colcha, which dealt with such a contemporary topic as the restoration of the Portuguese kingdom. One might suppose that leaflets circulating in the Portuguese overseas dominions would have been the ideal medium for spreading and celebrating the message of independence to all corners of the empire. In fact, around 1643 propaganda promoting D. Joao IV was intensified.524 No leaflets showing exactly the same model as the colcha have been found so far, perhaps they did not survive. This colcha however might constitute an embroidered version of such a print. The celebratory nature of the iconography renders it quite certain that the colcha was made between the earliest possible date 1642 – since it took about a year to travel from Lisbon to Bengal – and 1668, the treaty of Lisbon ending the Restoration or Acclamation War. It is most plausible that the colcha, with its focus on the acclamation and the sending out of ambassadors, was made during the early stages of this war until about 1650 when King D. João IV was eager to be acknowledged, at least by the enemies of the Habsburgs during the Thirty Years’ War. The ambassadors he sent out carried with them information in the form of prints showing portraits of the Portuguese royal family and books of history that were necessary to acquaint foreign officials with the history and political situation in Portugal.525 The colcha was very probably part of a wider propagandistic attempt, serving as didactic material, in favour of the new king and Portuguese independence stretching over the entire seaborne empire and its wider sphere of influence, including Bengal. In the light of the comparison with the colcha da Restauração, the programme of the ISGM colcha tends more towards being interpretated as an expression of Portuguese in523 Oliveira Marques, 1998, pp. 184–191. 524 Cardim, 1998, p. 319. 525 Cardim, 1998, p. 319, 320.

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dependence and a dating after 1640.526 The probably deliberate choice of the arch of the Flemish from Lavanha’s book, which thematised Netherlandish secession, illustrated a parallel phenomenon in the Portuguese context on the colcha. An important addition was the genealogical tree illustrating the Avis dynasty. 1640 restored to the Portuguese kingdom and certain aristocrats some of the importance they had within the concert of European powers before being ruled in union with Spain from 1580. One of the main messages of the entry to Lisbon in 1619 was to remind King Philip III of the importance of Portugal and its overseas’ dominions. In the view of the commissioners of the colchas, what was expected by the Spanish kings could only be fulfilled by D. João IV. There are manifold iconographic parallels and continuities between Portugal’s Avis, Habsburg and early Bragança dynasties. Re-using or slightly adapting Philippine political iconography ensured that the contents were understood and suggested continuity of power. It also makes the dating of colchas more difficult.527 While the colcha da Restauração explicitly retells historical events (including inscriptions that head the individual scenes), the ISGM colcha’s programme – if it is dated to after 1640 – represents its allegorical version. Shown together, this would become clear to informed viewers, most probably Portuguese society in the colonies or the homeland. In order to make the programme of the colchas work, they were best presented as hangings in an official colonial Portuguese context. They made useful didactic showpieces, informing and explaining about the events leading to the declaration of independence. It is known that colchas were occasionally used as diplomatic gifts. In view of the topic displayed, it would make sense to imagine them as gifts, perhaps as a sign of allegiance to the new king by Portuguese merchants of Bengal. No other colchas have survived referring so explicitly to contemporary events as the colcha da Restauração. Colcha ensembles however did survive (cat. no. 26/27). Given its informative nature it is possible that similar colchas existed. However, it is not known as yet if the two colchas were ever shown together. The composition and the explicit political references to the contemporary political situation on the Iberian Peninsula render the iconographic programme of both colchas unique and raise the question whether there were more colchas with such an overtly political content, or whether these two colchas were part of a larger ensemble. The former is probable; however only the discovery of new colchas will enable conclusions of a more comprehensive nature.

526 Unlike previously assumed. See: Karl, 2010b, pp. 255–268. 527 Cardim, 2008, pp. 185–206.

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26./27. THE TWO COLCHAS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL DIGNITARY – LATE THIRD PHASE, COMPACT GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, second third seventeenth century 308 x 273 cm and 175 x 128 cm (fragment) Blue and white tussar silk on a cotton ground; embroidery in chain stitch and backstitch Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Invs. 4574 and 3750 (fragment)528

The two colchas of the unknown cleric are from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. One of them is a fragment with only a quarter of its lower left side remaining. In their original form they were intended as hangings, very probably decorating the same room to provide a homogeneous furnishing. The same coat of arms forms the centre of both textiles, which indicates they were made on a special commission for a specific person. They are also very similar in style and organisation (four borders around a rectangular middle field). The yellow embroidered figures are edged with blue contours, which make the scenes more easily discernable than in the colchas discussed so far and which are a unique feature in the Bengal colchas hitherto encountered. Perhaps the blue contours were specially requested by the commissioner. Their style shows assurance, but the figures are not as lively as in the Solomon colchas they are stylistically indebted to. This suggests a later date of production roughly during the second third of the seventeenth century. The state of preservation of the two textiles (except that one of them is only a fragment) is astonishingly good. The coat of arms in the centre is that of a high-ranking cleric, probably a bishop or a cardinal, which may also explain the complex and unique iconographic programme of the textile. It has never been possible as yet to identify the coat of arms.529 Because of the long distance involved in transmitting the coat of arms motif, it is plausible that the embroiderers made an error in transposing the provided model onto the textile. Without the correct coat of arms the colchas could not have been used by the commissioner back in Europe, which would explain its well-preserved state. As mentioned, it took a ship more than two years alone to make the journey Lisbon – Goa – Bengal and back. This plus the time required for executing such an ensemble was extremely time-consuming, depending on how many people worked on it and whether the winds were favourable. 528 Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81–86. Natural yellow of the tussar silk. Only degradation product identified. 529 Owing to the inexact depiction Celina Bastos and the author were not able to identify the coat of arms. There were several possibilities for one and the same fractions: for the two lions and the tree: Sepulveda, Matos, Cardoso, Tibao; for the lion and the tree: Pinheiro, Cogomino and Reixoto; and for the striped part Franca (?). We finally wondered whether it was a Portuguese family at all. Compare: Matos, 1934; Martins Zuquete (ed.), 1989.

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26a. Colcha of the ecclesiastical dignitary, Bengal/Hugli region, second third seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4574

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26b. Sketch of colcha of the ecclesiastical dignitary, 1. Coat of arms of an ecclesiastic dignitary, 2. Ulysses and Penelope or Lucretia and Tarquinius Superbus (?), 3. Virgin Mary, 4. Animals around trough, 5. Soldiers, 6. Nabid – Titoquincio, 7. Sipha – Massanissa, 8. Anibal – Sempronio, 9. Scipio – Hanon, 10. Anibal – Dvilio, 11. Moabitas – David, 12. Justice of Paris, 13. Titoquinctio – Philip, 14. Man with lyra, 15. Adadezer – David, 16. Two men and a tree, 17. Marcoasilio – Antiocho, 18. Couple and tree, 19. Pompeio – Caesar, 20. Man and tree, 21. Artasita – Sartabenes, 22. Two men, 23. David – Filisteos, 24. Man with lute, 25. Alexandro – Dario, 26. Two men and tree, 27. Hunting scenes, 28. Emilio – Anibal, 29. Man with lyra, 30. Antigono – Cleomenes, 31. Two men, 32. Scipio – Siphas, 33. Two men and tree, 34.Emilio – Anibal, 35. Two men and tree, 36. Malcolmo – Macabeo, 37. Man with lute, 38. Saul – Filisteos, 39. Two men, 40. Cleomenes – Arato, 41.Samson, 42. Scipio – Anibal, 43. Two men and tree, 44. Abimalech – Gaad, 45. Two men, 46. David – Amalechtas, 47. Man with lute, 48. Hunting scenes

The dimensions of the intact colcha are quite unique; it is among the largest colchas from Bengal. The colcha has the same layout as many other Bengal pieces (several borders around a symmetrically organized, rectangular middle field) but the scenes with the rather stiff figures filling the provided layout and the iconographic programme are very different. A large coat of arms forms the actual centre of the middle field. A large hat is placed on top,

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with tassels hanging down on each side, indicating that the person for whom the colcha was destined was a high ecclesiastical dignitary. As mentioned above, the coat of arms itself has not yet been identified. It consists of a lion next to a tree at the upper left with four stripes crossed by a fifth (this is the unidentifiable part) below it to the left. Two lions stand beside a tree to the right of the coat of arms. With the exception of six small fields grouped around this centre, the coat of arms is surrounded by battle scenes. The six small fields show: on top, the crowned Virgin Mary in a triangle with a pierced heart (a symbol of her son) below her. Under the centre are animals feeding from a trough, with a winged snake floating above them. Both scenes are recurring motifs on the Bengal Solomon colchas. The presence of a unicorn among the animals, a symbol of chastity, gains importance in connection with the Virgin, represented above. The unicorn’s characteristic split hooves are an interesting detail in the embroidery as it demonstrates how closely the European models provided were often followed, albeit not always. In comparison, the horses on the colcha have normal equine hooves. The only true unicorn living in Bengal, the rhinoceros, is also depicted in one of the borders of this colcha and seems to have been a coveted trophy for hunters. The bust of an unidentified figure is placed in the small medallion between the trough scene and the centre. There are two scenes on the sides of the central coat of arms, one on each side in a semicircle: the return of Ulysses to Penelope is depicted at the left and a kneeling woman with a sword, probably Lucretia, is at the right (following the same models as in other colchas). The scenes featuring model women, the Virgin, the faithful Greek Penelope, the chaste Roman Lucretia, are flanked by armed men, thus in keeping with the martial context of the colcha. The three paragons of female virtue can probably be interpreted as figures of inspiration for Portuguese wives waiting for their husbands battling far away from home. The battle scenes between the exemplary women and in the borders vary only slightly from one another: two groups of soldiers with horses in armour from about 1600 face each other. The fields represent skirmishes rather than large battles and are all subtitled. The inscriptions name the opponents and identify them as historic battles of Antiquity. Starting clockwise from the top above the central coat of arms one reads: NABID (and) TITOQVINCIO, then ANIBAL (versus) DVILIO; SIPHAX (versus) MASANISSA; ANIBAL (versus) SEMPRONIO; SCIPION (versus) HANON. The fact that the “H” in Hannibal (=Anibal) is missing is worthy of note; the Portuguese way of writing leaves out the “H” and is an indicator that the colcha was produced for the Portuguese market. The four surrounding borders represent alternating hunting scenes and battles. The innermost border is decorated with some eight historical battles, which are interrupted by smaller fields. The most interesting illustrations of battles are those laid around the corners because they offer more space for the figures. Small fields with peaceful themes are interspersed with the battle scenes in the borders. Starting from the top, the following battles and inscriptions are represented clockwise: MOABITAS (versus) DAVID; this scene

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is followed by a small field showing the mythological scene of Paris judging the three goddesses, then TITOQVINCIO (versus) PHILIPO and a small field with a man sitting under a tree playing a lute who could be interpreted as Orpheus, ADADEZER (versus) DAVID, and again in a small field there are two men next to a tree, then MARCOASILIO (versus) ANTIOCHO, followed by a soldier and a woman next to a tree, the next battle is POMPEIO (versus) IVLIOSEZA, the following small field again represents two men next to a tree; ARTASITAS (versus) ARTABANES, followed by a man paying homage to another, who is sitting on a chair, FILISTEOS (versus) DAVID, and again a man playing a lute, and finally ALEXANDRO (versus) DARIO and two men next to a tree. The second border shows a large European hunting party. Their prey includes mythological unicorns as well as real ones: a rhinoceros. Its exact physical depiction is an important clue for indicating the production site. The hunters wear European costume; they are armed with spears, shields and muskets. A small pond with buffalos, ducks, fish and flowers is situated in the middle of each side of the border and may refer to the many swamps in the Ganges delta region. Another Indian feature of the border is that some of the participants in the hunt are carried in palanquins. These were made with bent branches onto which a kind of hammock was slung.530 Similar images of this kind of sedan chair can be found in the Codex Casanatense, a collection of aquarelles dating from the sixteenth century showing Portuguese colonial life in India, and in Jan Huyghen van Linschoten’s illustrated account Itinerario.531 The third border is again decorated with battle scenes and consists of ten confrontations interspersed with other scenes, some of them mythological some courtly (starting from the top, clockwise): ANIBAL (versus) EMILIO, followed by a musician in a small field, ANTIGONO (versus) CLEOMENES, and a servant bringing a tablet to his master, SCIPION (versus) SIPHAS, two men standing next to a tree; the next battle scene is again inscribed with EMILIO (versus) ANIBAL, followed by two men next to a tree, in the lower corner MALCOLMO (versus) MACABEO, then a musician, SAUL (versus) FILISTEOS, and two men, one of them on a chair, CLEOMENES (versus) ARATO and, quite unique in the colchas – Samson killing a lion by breaking its jaw. The hero of the Old Testament overcomes evil and could be paralleled with both Hercules and Christ. The next battle illustrates ABIMALECH (versus) GAAD followed by two men next to a tree and finally DAVID (versus) AMALECHITAS and a man playing the lute. The outermost border is again decorated with hunting scenes very similar to those of the first hunting border. All in all there are 23 battles depicted. The Bible, Plutarch’s Vitae and Livy’s historical work are the most probable literary models for the battle scenes of the colcha.532 The sto530 Described for example by Manrique, 1927, vol I., p. 57. 531 Anonymous: Codex 1889 of the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome, c. 1550; Linschoten’s Itinerario from 1596 included illustrations. 532 For the antique battles see: Burck, 1992; Ziegler (ed.), 1954–1965.

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ries and successes of Alexander the Great, David and Julius Caesar continued to fascinate medieval and early modern readers. Hardly any decent library of the time could do without Caesar’s De bello gallico, the Bible, books on Roman history or the Romance of Alexander. Some of the names of the generals appear repeatedly. Hannibal, the great Punic general, appears five times, and David, the biblical King, four times. Roughly, the clashes can be divided into two groups: firstly, the battles of the Old Testament, generally perceived as manifestations of divine will. They are represented by the kings Saul and David (tenth century BC) and the Maccabeans, all of whom symbolise the fight for sovereignty by the Jewish people.533 Saul and David fight the neighbouring people and sovereigns who threaten them, such as the Philistines. Samson, shown in one of the small fields, also fights against the Philistines and can thus be placed in this context. Other enemies defeated by the Jewish army are the Moabitans, Arameans, Amalechitans, Adadezer, and one depiction is dedicated to the conquest of the city of Gaad. An element not shown explicitly but implicit to the fights is the allusion to the consolidation of power of the Jewish people in Israel, which was followed by the prosperous rule of King Solomon – a topic dealt with in many other colchas. The second group illustrates battles of the early Hellenistic period: wars which are interrelated and lead to the rise of the Roman Empire. There are battles from the first (264– 241 BC) and the second Punic War (218–202 BC), the first Macedonian War (214–205 BC) and the Syrian War (192–188 BC). The early Hellenistic battle group is chronologically framed by two of the most famous generals in history, Alexander and Caesar, who Plutarch compares directly in book IX of his Vitae: Alexander versus Darius (Issos 333 BC) marked the conquest of the Persian Empire and the beginning of the Hellenistic Age, and Julius Caesar versus Pompey (Pharsalus 48 BC), was a battle that prepared the transition from the Roman Republic to the Imperium Romanum. Just as the biblical battles led to prosperity under Solomon, the second group of battles illustrates the rise of the Romans and alludes to the coming Golden Age under Emperor Augustus. The Old Testament fight of the Maccabeans (175–140 BC), which took place during the Hellenistic period, connects the Old Testament battles depicted on the colchas with the group of Hellenistic battles. One battle departs slightly from the scheme and can be identified with another historical event: Artasitas versus Artabenes, meaning Artaxerxes versus Artabanus. The names indicate a Persian background. The image probably represents an ancient conspiracy at the Persian court: Artabanus (465–464 BC) acted as regent for Artaxerxes I (464–425 BC) who subsequently killed him to establish his rule. The conflict is mentioned in Plutarch’s Themistocles and in the Bible in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The same Artaxerxes allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem and would form a bridge for the biblical group of the war of the Maccabeans. In addition , he ended the Persian wars against Greece in 449/448 through the peace of Callias, linking the image to the Greek battles. The 533 However, it is not clear who or what is meant by the inscription MALCOLMO as an opponent of the Maccabeans.

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Persian Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Antiquity and may have been chosen to illustrate yet another, the Persian, Golden Age further to the East and thus closer to India. The Persian Empire was subsequently conquered by Alexander the Great, who is also present on the colcha and who was one of the model rulers for princes in East and West. Seven fields show the Punic Wars against the Romans. Interestingly, all the battles depicted in the middle field are dedicated to the Punic Wars even though they ended with the defeat of the general and represented another step in the rise of Roman power. The Carthaginians and their allies who fought against the Roman generals are listed, starting with Sempronius Longus (at the Trebbia river, 218 BC) and L. Aemilius Paulus (at Cannae, 216 BC). Battles attributable to the Second Punic War are Hanno versus Scipio, Massanissa, an ally of the Romans, versus Syphax, an ally of the Carthaginians. The clash between Gaius Duilius and Hannibal Gisco (not Barca) at Mylae was actually a battle at sea, a fact ignored in the embroidery; it is illustrated as a land battle and took place during the first Punic War. Carthage came to an end in Africa at Zama (202 BC) with the defeat of Hannibal, who escaped and entered the service of another enemy of the Romans, Antiochos, whose fight against Rome is also depicted on the colcha.534 The wars in the eastern Mediterranean took place at almost the same time as the Second Punic War. The protagonists here were Philip V of Macedon, the Roman statesman Titus Quinctius Flaminius, the Spartan tyrant Nabis, another Roman general Marcus Acilius and Antiochos III the Great, ruler of the eastern part of the former Alexandrine empire. The peace treaty of Apamea (188 BC) following these wars declared the Romans to be masters of the Mediterranean world and secured their power for centuries to come. Antiochos III retreated to his eastern possessions; later, one of his successors fought against the Maccabeans, a battle also depicted on the colcha as part of the biblical group. Many of the Hellenistic battle generals mentioned on the colcha are described in Plutarch’s Vitae: for example Cleomenes (fighting Antigonos Doson) and Arato, two Greek generals, and the Roman Titus Quinctius Flaminius. In Ab urbe condita, Livy describes the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in books 21 to 40 and mentions many battles depicted on the colcha. The works of Livy and Plutarch were well known in Portuguese humanist circles of the sixteenth century and served as models for Portuguese chroniclers like Fernão Lopes Castanheda, Gaspar Correia, João de Barros and Diogo do Couto.535 Together with the Bible, they were the main sources for the programme of the colcha. These books circulated in the Estado da India with the travellers and probably reached Bengal, too. Figures that apparently do not have anything to do with the battles were inserted into the small spaces between the battle scenes in the borders; most of them can be read as alluding to the Golden Ages heralded by the battles. The motif of the musician is significant. Irrespective of whether it is the Greek singer Orpheus or King David himself with the lyre, 534 See: Griffith, 1963; Gehrke, 2003; Bagnall, 1995 and Goldsworthy, 2000. 535 Sousa Rebelo, 2007, pp. 358-389.

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both spread harmony through their music and are embodyments of ideal rulership and the Golden Age.536 The courtiers depicted in a bucolic manner, another recurring motif, fit into this scheme the hunting scenes of the two borders, representing the pleasures of courtly life. Paris’ decision hints at yet another famous war: Troy. The programme is quite secular for a cleric, present through his coat of arms and seems more suitable for a palatial than a church decoration. As mentioned above, the only scenes relatable to Christianity are placed around the coat of arms, such as the Virgin Mary and the pierced heart. Just like the generals, the model women there are portrayed in the manner of Plutarch’s biographical couples as embodiments of female virtue from different cultural backgrounds and times. With the battles the colcha refers to a sequence of ancient empires, either rising or declining: the latter included Persia, Hannibal’s empire and Greece. The rising stars were the short-lived empire of Alexander and those of Israel and Rome. The arrangement within the colcha’s programme does not highlight any individual battle, however; the battles with Roman participation are the most numerous. The Portuguese conquests were viewed at the time as a continuation of the tradition of the ancient empires. The Portuguese were not only following in the footsteps of great ancient empires, they even outdid them by establishing an enduring new empire including all known continents under Portuguese Christian rule.537 Sixteenth century Portuguese historiography by Gaspar Correia and João de Barros, to name just two chroniclers, and Luís de Camões’ great epic represent examples of this interpretation and in fact moulded it.538 In his epic on the Portuguese maritime expansion, Os Lusíadas, Luís de Camões consistently compares the deeds of the Portuguese with Antiquity, emphasising that the Portuguese, aided by antique gods, were the new Romans and Israelites and even surpassed their predecessors. He further compares the King of Portugal to Caesar and referres to ancient generals. It would be going too far to state that the Lusiadas constituted a direct source of inspiration for the colcha’s iconography; rather, this comparative approach to interpretation was inextricably linked to the Portuguese interpretation of expansion at that time. The Portuguese considered themselves to be the new conquerors of the world and harbingers of peace in the form of a new Catholic Golden Age in Asia, especially in Muslim Asia, which covered vast parts of the territory referred to in the ancient battles and the Holy Land – which D. Emanuel I had already dreamed of conquering. True, no contemporary Portuguese battle is depicted on the colcha. However, all the battle scenes, even the ones representing ancient battles, show contemporary soldiers and even if inscriptions do not mention the Portuguese explicitly, the historical context refers to them. 536 See: Koch, 1988. 537 Sousa Rebelo, 2007, pp. 358-389. 538 Sousa Rebelo, 2007, pp. 358-389.

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The programme recalls the concept of Sebastianismo whose most important seventeenth century divulgator was the Jesuit Padre António Vieira (1608–1697), elaborating the idea of the Fifth Empire. The Spanish rule over Portugal gave rise to this concept after the death of King D. Sebastião, whose return and the liberation from the Spanish yoke was reportedly desired by the people. He, so it was thought, would create a new the Fifth Empire following those of Antiquity.539 Referring to at least a few ancient empires also mentioned by Vieira, the colcha’s programme reflects this specific concept without explicitly expressing it. However, the definition of the empires upon the colcha are too vague to support a direct reference to Vieira. The concept was in the air during the later sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries, King D. João IV, too, was celebrated in this context upon coming to power. Popular before and after independence, it was picked up and modified in the programme of the colchas in order to express the glory of Portugal. By paralleling the Portuguese battles with the ancient ones on the colcha their deeds were elevated to a mythical sphere, a notion the erudite owner must have understood.

In contrast to the first colcha, the second colcha of the ensemble has only survived as a fragment and focuses on representations of the Old Testament with a programme including divine threats, promises and reminders that again can be read in the contemporary Portuguese context: only the lower left quarter of the colcha remains intact (See colour plate 8). Thus, only a quarter of the iconography has survived, which underlines arguments similar to the other colcha, albeit in a different way. It is made of the same material and uses the same techniques as its counterpart. A part of the same central coat of arms is depicted on the upper right of the fragment, thus proving that this and the other colcha were made for the same commissioner. The layout is also the same: a rectangular middle field is surrounded by four borders. Apart from the coat of arms there are soldiers on horses in the middle field, but they bear no inscriptions. Other surviving scenes again focus on model women such as the Roman heroine Lucretia, in the lateral semicircle, and the biblical heroine Judith standing in front of Holofernes in the circular segment with an inscription. It is plausible that the missing corner segments were filled with the rest of the Judith story as seen on other colchas, and that Penelope and the Virgin Mary were depicted around the central coat of arms and served again as the cultural counterparts of Lucretia and Judith, or prefigurations of Mary. By giving Judith a dominant position, the programme would emphasise the fight of good against evil, with the victory of the faithful believer over the heathen. Judith would complement the circle of exemplary women, adding the Old Testament to Greek and Roman accounts. The composition of the scenes depicted on the borders of the colcha is much more varied than in the previous piece, where the battles closely resemble one another. Of the four 539 Azevedo, 1918; Paiva, 1999; Cardoso, 2001.

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27. Sketch of colcha of the ecclesiastical dignitary (fragment), Bengal/Hugli region, second third seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3750 Fragment: 1. Coat of arms of an ecclesiastic dignitary, 2. Ulysses and Penelope, 3. Judith and Holofernes, 4. Soldiers, 5. Jacob and Rahel, 6. Abdias (?), 7. Absalom, 8. Men with grape, 9. Hunting scenes, 10. Solomon, 11. Job, 12. Samson, 13. Zimri and Cozbi, 14.Belshazzar, 15. Moses or (?) Joseph before the Pharao, 16. Hunting scenes (See colour plate 8)

borders two represent hunting scenes that are very similar to the hunting scenes of the other colcha of the ensemble. The innermost border consists of four scenes from the Bible which are subtitled with occasionally misleading inscriptions. The first field is described as IACOBAQVEL and shows a couple under a tree in a bucolic landscape illustrating the love story in Genesis between Jacob, Isaac’s son, and his future wife Rachel, who first meet at a fountain. This model love story is followed by a narrow field, without inscription, showing a man with a dog, perhaps a hunter or a shepherd. A rectangle follows, explained by the letters AEDIAS. A man and behind him a woman stand in front of brick architecture and exchange bread with another man. The Messianic vision of the biblical prophet Obadiah, to whom the inscription probably refers, does not correspond to the picture, but his prophecy alludes to a topic central to the iconography of the other colcha: the destruction of the enemies of Israel. Since it is believed that the textiles were designed to hang in the same room, this correspondence makes sense – perhaps some of the other missing scenes were related to it too. The image itself, most probably refers to the meeting between Abraham, returning victoriously from battle, and the priest-king Melchizedek (Book of Genesis) who blesses him and brings out bread and wine. This scene was interpreted as an allusion to

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salvation and as a typological reference to the Eurcharist.540 In the Portuguese context it might be read as a an assurance of religious protection and confirmation of their military enterprises, or it could be placed in the context of their missionary activities. One wonders what was considered more important in this case, the inscription or the image. The inscription for the next field is AESALON, which undoubtedly means Absalom, King David’s rebellious son. The scene from the Books of Samuel shows him hanging by his hair from the branches of a tree. An archer on a horse aims his arrow at the tragic hero. In the colonial Portuguese context his story could be interpreted as an implicit threat to the many Portuguese soldiers in the service of local Indian rulers. The last scene of this border bears the inscription NOSOSVENTVROZOS, which means “our adventurers” in Portuguese – again indicating the consumer market. In this field, there are two men with a huge branch of succulent grapes returning to Moses from the Promised Land, a scene from the Book of Numbers. Interpreted in the Portuguese context the overseas possessions were understood as a Promised Land and the Portuguese as people chosen by God. The second border is decorated with hunting scenes almost identical to the hunting border of the first colcha of the ensemble, with a camel, a unicorn and the massive, scaly body of a rhinoceros. The third border includes six biblical narratives: the first shows the Queen of Sheba paying homage to King SOLOMON as the inscription says, a story from the First Book of Kings. The king is placed under a canopy flanked by soldiers and the queen, his bride, stands in front of him. The following rectangle is titled IOB, again referring to a more general virtue. Job, in the eponymous biblical book is the embodiment of the suffering of a just man, who throughout all misfortune never lost his faith and was later rewarded; he sits on the ground and is surrounded by his three dialogue partners. The pigs in his care are in the background. His enduring faith renders him a model for true believers, hence also for Portuguese living in India, many of whom went through great misery. Mortality rates in the tropics were very high, as was the poverty of most simple soldiers, thus the figure of Job provided consolation. Another biblical hero from the Book of Judges was SAMSON, who dominates the third rectangle; here he fights alone against a group of Philistine soldiers, thereby killing a thousand enemies. This again relates to the iconography of the first colcha on which he is depicted killing a lion. The corner field bears the inscription ZAMBRICOSBI. The story is a lesser known event of the biblical Book of Numbers. Cozbi was the daughter of the Midianite King Zur and lover of Zimri, an Israelite. Both were involved in heresy and were killed with a spear by Pinhas in order to calm the wrath of God who had sent a scourge over the Israelites. The embracing couple lie in a tent, the woman’s nude leg and position obviously suggesting her relationship to the man. The latter is stabbed from behind by a male figure. This story might be addressed to Portuguese men married to local Indian women, a policy encouraged by Portuguese officials, advising them to remain faithful Catholics. The following scene evokes 540 Kirschbaum/ Bandmann/Braunfels, 1968–1972. vol. 3, 242.

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a luxurious court atmosphere, with elegantly attired people sitting around a richly decorated table. The inscription is more misleading than helpful: NAB.ALEBRIUS. The horrified gesticulation of a man and a hand that is writing on the wall sheds light on the attribution as an episode from the Book of Daniel, announcing the fall of Belshazzar and his rule, for he had profaned objects of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The inscription may indicate Belshazzar’s father and shows that the embroiderers were not very familiar with the models and their background stories. This again could be read as an invitation especially to New Christians – a source of worry for the Inquisition – to stay in line with Catholic doctrine. The last fully visible field is entitled FARAON. The individual in question is sitting on a throne under a canopy similar to Solomon’s throne in the Queen of Sheba scene. This scene most probably represents either Moses or Joseph appearing before the Pharaoh. One of the men in the group holds a dagger in his hand, seemingly prepared to kill someone. All the scenes depicted here are from the Old Testament and illustrate important and risqué events in the history of the Jewish people. Since three-quarters of the images are missing it is difficult to come to specific conclusions, certain currents however become evident. One main theme is God’s just punishment and implicit threats, which is illustrated by the scenes depicting Absalom, Job, Samson, Zimri, Belshazzar and Judith in the middle field. The idea of the unlimited power of God is evident through his direct intervention as judge. Another topic is love, portrayed in Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and in Jacob and Rachel. The scene of Melchisedek meeting Abraham could be placed in the Portuguese missionary context. Given that the colcha was part of an ensemble, it is quite certain that the overall message of this colcha was linked to the other colcha that has been described above: while the programme of the first colcha refers to the conquest of territory and the establishment of a temporary empire the second implies the conquest and preservation of souls and the establishment of a spiritual empire in Portuguese Asia. The former was an issue of greater concern in view of the increasing Portuguese dominance in Ceylon – divine protection justified their actions; the latter was emphasised by the more or less successful Portuguese missionary activities. If the fragment is interpreted as representing an analogy to the biblical Israelites, the scene of the grape carriers returning from the Promised Land is crucial, since it indirectly portrays the Portuguese as the Israelites’ successors and also obliquely compares the turbulent history of the divinely elected Jewish people to that of the equally divinely elected Portuguese, who incidentally shared the fate of foreign rule at least between 1580 and 1640, when Portugal was ruled by Spain. In this interpretation the selection of images represents a combination of threats and promises to the Portuguese living in India, at the same time placing them under divine protection and asking their obedience. Thus the colchas not only communicate with one another but also with the Portuguese people, men and women, who find figures of identification in the disguised version of an idealised Portuguese overseas empire. The ensemble might have included other colchas, but as yet no trace of similar textiles has been found. Perhaps the other colchas – if there were any – were each dedicated to the

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history of the other empires depicted in the colcha with the battles. The coat of arms of the ecclesiastical dignitary indicates that they were used as hangings in a more official context, perhaps in a more private reception room. Their fine state of preservation suggests they were not used frequently. The comparisons with ancient models provided an indirect means for the first colcha to communicate the dominance of the Portuguese in all their dominions: a new empire brought about by the Portuguese in Asia. The historical truth was rather different: by the time the colchas were produced, Portuguese dominions in Asia were under attack from diverse sides. Portugal itself was ruled by Spain under the dual monarchy or, depending on the dating of the colcha, had just become independent and struggled to survive. Produced in a period of political uncertainties, the assertive iconography of the colchas nostalgically evokes the heroic time of Portuguese conquests, when the important battles were won and the Estado da Índia was consolidated. The iconographic programme is a nostalgic and idealised glimpse of this successful time span of the Portuguese establishment in Asia and expresses the collective longing of the seventeenth-century Portuguese for the return of their supposed Golden Age.

28. COLCHA – SECOND PHASE, RED GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, second half sixteenth/first half seventeenth century 213 x 162 cm (fragment) Blue and red dyed wild silk (not specified) on undyed white cotton ground in tabby weave; embroidery in backstitch Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3413541

Three exceptional colchas using predominantly red and blue silk threads on white cotton ground are today are in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, in the collection of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, and in the Royal Collection in Sweden, which was first quoted in a royal inventory in 1627, establishing a terminus ante quem for its production.542 The Derbyshire embroidery has recently been published in a detailed article by Rosemary Crill.543 The few surviving pieces suggest that these colchas were only in limited demand by consumers in Europe. The colchas from the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga both include European elements but are quite different in style and technique from 541 See for example: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=247107 (consulted 10. 9. 2012). Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81-86. 542 Geijer, 1951, p. 119, no. 120. 543 Levey, 1998; Crill, 2005, pp. 87–91; Levey, 2008, p. 389.

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28a. Colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, later sixteenth, early seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3413

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28b. Sketch colcha

the Bengal colchas discussed so far. The colcha from Sweden is the only one not showing European elements. They were probably executed in different workshops producing embroideries for other markets. The material (silk and cotton) is the same as in the other colchas. The technique varies insofar as the red/blue colchas are almost entirely embroidered in backstitch, which enabled the embroiderers to be more exact in the details. The embroidery is very dense; the basic organisation is strictly symmetrical and recalls certain contemporary Quran frontispieces (similar to cat. no. 11). The style of the colcha is quite distinct. The embroidered figures seem to merge into the pattern and are almost lost in the all-over design. Stylistically some motifs (the representation of Europeans) are very similar to the figurative panels on many contemporary Bengal brick temples. An interesting stylistic parallel is also found in figures depicted on Ceylonese ivory chests.544 Given this similarity in style and the courtly content colchas like these were very probably produced for a local Indian clientele even prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, but, as the extant examples illustrate, some of them were also exported to Europe, perhaps in an attempt to test the preparedness of the market for a novel product. 544 Vgl. Jordan Gschwend/ Beltz (eds.), 2010.

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28c. Detail with hunting scene

These specific colchas continued to be produced during the period of Portuguese presence and the surviving pieces can therefore be dated only very roughly to the second half of the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth century.545 The dating is supported not only by the mentioning of the colcha in the royal Swedish inventory. An inventory from Hardwick Hall in England provides another indication. In Hardwick Hall, where one of the colchas is still housed today, an inventory survives of Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury, who compiled a splendid textile collection during the second half of the sixteenth century. Some Indian colchas were mentioned in her inventory, which dates from 1601. In a letter Santina Levey, curator at Hardwick Hall, confirmed that the red/blue colcha from Hardwick Hall does not correspond to the description of the inventory of Bess of Hardwick of 1601 and pointed out that the countess’s son, William Cavendish, entertained positive relations with the EEIC. It is thus possible that the textile entered the collection later in the seventeenth century. The inventory cannot be used as a means of dating the colcha but shows that there were already other Indian colchas in her collection as early as 1601. She must have bought most of them from the Portuguese market, since the EEIC was just about to enter business. This specific group of red/blue colcha production might have been commissioned by locals who, knowing the Portuguese and their new models, integrated European forms in a peculiar way to please consumers of the wider Indian market. The European scenes depicted on the colcha seem more immediate and many do not seem to be taken from prints 545 See catalogue: London, 1978.

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directly, since they represent neither personifications nor identifiable mythological scenes. Rather, the embroiderers took the Portuguese merchants present in Bengal as actual model. The Indian scenes follow the courtly repertoire. The layout of the colcha from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga remains close to the colchas discussed so far: three borders of different width surrounding a middle field. The upper third of the embroidery is missing. The borders are accentuated by corner medallions, and the guard stripes (with parallel lines and circular forms in fine backstitch) resemble those of the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4) and the colcha from the Museum für angewandte Kunst (cat. no. 1, a prototype). The remaining middle field of the textile fragment includes a horizontally placed rectangle and a square field emphasising the absolute centre marked by a large rosette. The rectangle in the upper part of the middle field is divided into three compartments, the outer two featuring geometrised star rosettes and in the middle two elephants mounted by their guides, birds and smaller animals are placed at the sides of a tree of life motif. Riders on horseback accompany the elephants. A border with geometricised floral design separates this rectangular field from the square centre inhabited by double-registered rosette. The corners are decorated with small circles, and an almond-shaped medallion is flanked by smaller circular rosettes. The multi-lobed central rosette sprouts eight strongly stylised blossoms from a centre filled with aligned circles in multiple rows, recalling the eyes of a peacock tail. The second register is decorated with scenes from daily elite life alternating with almond-shaped medallions including the repetitive circular patterns. Between them are courtly scenes, partly cut, depicting hunting parties with lances and bows and arrows fighting tigers, wild boars and other animals. Apart from the intercultural hunting scenes, there is a tent scene with a couple (the only woman on the colcha) and a bird cage above them, and a scene with an elephant mounted by a man sitting under a sunshade; the scenes predominantly feature people in Indian costume, and no European print model is evident. The three borders each bear different decorations. The innermost is decorated with hunting scenes including Portuguese with muskets together with Indian archers hunting tigers, gazelles and birds. The second border is much broader and filled with geometric designs dominated by a stellar pattern combined with circular forms. Squares are placed in the corners and filled with circles that in turn are decorated with a geometrised star rosette. The outermost of the three borders is again decorated with different scenes from elite life, framed by undulating floral guard stripes. Starting left above the cut are scenes that show people eating, playing and conversing. Interestingly, they sit on chairs: like the clothes they wear, chairs are a very European element suggesting that colonial Portuguese society is being portrayed here. Figures dressed in a more Indian-looking fashion are depicted as well. This party is guarded by soldiers, and beside them a hunting party fans out with delicately rendered elephants, a dromedary, tigers and gazelles, filling about a third of

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the left border and the border on top. This is followed in the right border by a naval scene of soldiers on two small boats, like those presumably used for transport on the Ganges delta. The group in one boat is armed with bow and arrow, the group in the other with harquebuses, suggesting the depiction of Portuguese (with firearms) and Bengal soldiers. Both aim at the large bird flying between the two boats, clutching elephants in its claws, probably representing an adapted version of the aforementioned gaja-simha, which the embroiderers seem to have fused with the mythical Iranian bird, the simurgh. The motif of two ships with Portuguese sailors appears in a very similar fashion on a Bengal brick temple from 1655 not very far from Satgoan, further supporting the assumption that colchas like this one were also intended for the Indian elite market.546 Maybe these were the closest predecessors to kantha embroideries. The corners of the borders are accentuated by squares inhabited by medallions with apotropaic and protective snake-eating peacocks with fanned tail. Thus the general topic of the colcha deals with interculturally understandable scenes from the daily life of the colonial and local elite. Traditional motifs and style were fused with new motifs, resulting in a balanced and complex embroidery composition. Stylistically close to contemporary Bengal artistic production, colchas such as this were probably destined for the wider Indian market. It is interesting to see what the Bengal embroiderers made of European elements when producing for this market. Even though some of the scenes are similar to colchas discussed before, their rendering is entirely different. Despite their difference in style and content, these colchas also pleased some European consumers, as attested by their presence in old collections.

29. RED COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, RED GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, mid-seventeenth century, 1620s–1680s 202 x 288 cm Cotton (tabby weave) with red and yellow silk (bombyx mori), embroidery in backstitch Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 112547

While the combination of red and blue was prevalent in the former colcha, red was mainly combined with yellow in the following pieces, their surface organisation is similar (See colour plate 9). The embroideries of the third phase of this group are again all stitched onto a 546 Ghosh, 2005, p. 38: Keshta Ray temple of 1655. 547 See for example: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar. aspx?IdReg=253358 (consulted 10.9.2012). Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81–86. Includes lac dye, typical for India.

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white cotton foundation. The use of backstitch for the most part – just as before in the red/ blue colchas mainly produced for the Indian market – enabled the embroiderers to draw clear outlines. The similarities in technique and decoration suggest that these colchas, of which numerous survive in European and American collections, were the adapted European export versions of the red/blue colchas discussed before. Compared to the dense decoration of the former colchas, the quantity of motifs was reduced and those chosen were enlarged. This and the red outlines ensure that the compositions make an immediate visual impression.548 Less important details and the background were embroidered with yellow silk thread. The layout of this group of colchas again recalls patterns from Islamic book illustration, but the motifs, so skilfully portrayed, such as the pelican, dragons, and certain hunting scenes, were drawn from similar European print models used for the Solomon colchas. It is notable that tussah silk was not used for the embroidery. This may suggest different suppliers of raw material or even a different workshop within the wider region. Compared to the Solomon colchas, the red colchas are more sober in style, their overall pattern more generously displayed and the designs appear more differentiated owing to the use of backstitch instead of chain stitch. The colchas of this phase mirror the effort of European commissioners to find new forms for the changing taste of their Iberian and increasingly North European clients. For these reasons, they are dated roughly to between the 1620s and 1680s. The two colchas chosen to represent the red group are from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Victoria & Albert Museum. The basic organisation of this colcha of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga features one wide border with guard stripes including undulating, interlaced, tear-shaped forms, it surrounds a rectangular middle field, which in turn is divided by two rectangles on the vertical axis above and below the central square with a circle. The circular centre is divided into two registers and shows the pelican opening its breast to feed its brood – an oft encountered symbol of Christ and the Avis dynasty (compare cat. no. 7). The pelican’s blood has been densely stitched and immediately catches the viewer’s eye. The outer register contains four nude women dressed only in leaf skirts, each embracing two dragons whose tails turn into spiralling vine scrolls sprouting leaves and flowers. Masks issuing spiralling vine scrolls with flowers were introduced into the corners of the square field. The heavy use of grotesques hints at a secular use of the colchas. In the upper and lower rectangles of the middle field two symmetrically placed spiralling vine scrolls issuing flowers and leaves support a peacock and a nude; they are separated by a snake with multiple heads – probably an apotobaic symbol. Symmetrically arranged hunting scenes adorn the wide outer border. In contrast to the hunting borders on other colchas where every square centimetre is filled, there are only 548 Two other examples exist in a Portuguese private collection and the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. In addition to large colchas there survived curtains and various fragments of this type of embroidery.

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two hunters in the upper and lower border of the colcha respectively, and four along the length of each side. The middle of each side is left to the hunter’s prey and a tree with birds. The strict symmetry of the colcha is clearly visible in the borders and details. The horses are portrayed in identical position and are repeated on each side; they seem to ride in formation rather than hunt. Thanks to the reduction of forms and figures more attention is drawn to the perfectly executed details, for example the facial features of the hunters and the harness of the horses. The corners of the border are each marked by a square containing a mask issuing vine scrolls with flowers. This element is present in many other colchas as well, but much smaller, here it was enlarged. The perfect symmetry of this colcha is disrupted only by the dominating central pelican. By reducing the programme it became more evident. Put into a Portuguese context it would still allude not only to the sacrifice of Christ but also to Avis rule. Keeping in mind the continuity of certain themes in Iberian dynastic propaganda, its production might well have occurred already under Bragança rule. This dynasty, too, viewed itself as a rightful heir to the Portuguese throne and appropriated older dynastic symbols for itself.

30. RED COLCHA – THIRD PHASE, RED GROUP

Bengal/Hugli region, between 1620 and 1640 320 x 250 cm Cotton (tabby weave) with red and yellow silk (bombyx mori), embroidery in backstitch Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. T 438–1882549

Apart from an additional border around the middle field, the layout of this colcha is comparable to that of the previous colcha. The large outer border is dominated by European figures. Along each length side are six symmetrically arranged European men on horseback, three on each side, riding towards a bush with monkeys and birds. Twelve musicians playing flutes, tambours, and lutes are placed next to a large central bush and adorn the upper and lower section of the border. Winged lions inhabit the corner squares of the borders. The guard stripes are decorated with fine circles. The very narrow, second surrounding border underlines the affinities to Mughal art: large flowers alternate with elegant gazelles. The flowers are reminiscent of floral depictions on Mughal architectural decoration such as on the Taj Mahal, similar ones were embroidered on the colcha roxa (cat. no. 4).550 The middle field is dominated by a circular centre in three registers; the centre of the colcha is composed of a large coat of arms of the Portuguese Viscondes Lima de Vila Nova 549 Guy/ Swallow (eds.), 1990, p. 49; Crill, 1999, p. 38. 550 Koch, 2006.

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30. Red colcha, Bengal/Hugli region, between 1620 and 1640; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. T 438–1882

30. Red Colcha – Third Phase, Red Group

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de Cerveira family, crowned by a helmet and surrounded by scrolls indicating the commissioners of the colcha.551 One of the family members fought at the battle of Alcácer Quibir that led to the union of Spain and Portugal. The family’s close ties to the Portuguese expansion are evident; the seventh visconde of the family was married to Dona Joana de Vasconselos e Meneses, the great-granddaughter of Pedro Cabral, the official discoverer of Brazil.552 One of the family members, perhaps one of the second-born sons who were often sent to India, commissioned the colcha with the coat of arms. In a document of 22 June 1653, a Visconde de Vila Nova de Cerveira ordered “some kind of Indian fabric of silk or gold, that exists in Lisbon and that he could use as cover for a bed.”553 The description is far too inexact to identify it with the colcha but it shows very well how textiles were commissioned and illustrates a more general interest of the family in things Indian. The iconography of the colcha visually exemplifies their participation in the conquests of the overseas dominions of the Estado da Índia. The second register of the central circle is filled with diverse animals (sheep, birds, gazelles etc.). The outer register displays four youths, each embracing two dragons whose tails turn into spiralling vine scrolls sprouting leaves and flowers. Double-headed and crowned eagles and floral designs decorate the corners of the central square, the location of the central circle, probably showing the affiliation of the family to the Habsburg dynasty. Six Portuguese caravels in a naval encounter are shown in the rectangles above and below the middle field. They are executed in great detail with different sails, surrounded by small escorting boats and diverse fish and turtles. Used as a hanging in a palace or hung out of a window during a procession, this colcha was a splendid showpiece to illustrate the importance of the family within the wider empire probably still under Habsburg rule, as the double-headed eagles indicate. This would suggest a date before 1640. Its perfect state might be based on the change of regime in 1640 and Portugal’s independence. An association to the Habsburgs would have no longer been favourable for the family at that time, the colcha was kept folded up in a chest.

551 Catalogue: London, 1990, p. 48; Matos, 1934, pp. 230. 552 Martins Zuquete, 1989, vol. III, p. 505. 553 Cunha Leão, 1998, p. 251.

GUJARAT

31. PHOENIX/PINEAPPLE COLCHA – SECOND PHASE

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century, probably around 1640 236 x 159 cm Dark-red silk foundation with polychrome (yellow, white, green) fringes possibly added later, tri-colour silk embroidery; backstitch Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2136

The red silk foundation is densely quilted in white silk (See colour plate 10). One border surrounds the rectangular middle field. Medallions decorated with alternating flowers and animals fill the border. The corners of the border are filled with a simple blossom surrounded by small flowers; the guard stripes feature rather coarse vine scrolls issuing leaves and flowers. The quarter circles in the four corners of the middle field contain a larger tear-shaped flower bud sprouting two blossoms and another bud. The field between the circular centre and the segments is occupied by undulating vine scrolls issuing from a pineapple, a fruit first imported to India from South America by the Portuguese.554 The central circle of the colcha depicts a bird flying towards the sun: a phoenix, according to Greek mythology, a bird that burns and is reborn from its ashes; as a symbol of cyclical renewal it was also interpreted in the context of the Christian Resurrection.555 Like the pelican, the phoenix is a Christian symbol that can be read in the context of Portuguese history and could be interpreted as a symbol of dynastic renewal and thus refer to 1640 when a new dynasty was celebrated in Portugal. Whether these colchas expressed an impending desire, namely independence from Spain, or one that has already come true, is not clear. It should be kept in mind that mythological birds are also part of Indian and Iranian traditions. By choosing such an intercultural motif the colchas were easily tradable to different markets, that each found its own interpretation for the figures depicted. Their comparative coarseness implies they were less expensive than the more elaborately embroidered colchas. The closest comparison to the colchas of this group is evident in some Mughal embroideries. A Mughal tent hanging, or embroidered prayer mat in the Victoria & Albert Museum 554 Burnell/Yule (eds.), 1985, p. 25, Blochmann, 2010 (Ain-i Akbari, i. 66-68). 555 Kretschmer, 2011, pp. 327–328.

32. Colcha with Sun – Second or Third Phase

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(IM 62.1936) not only features the same densely quilted background, but also shares its chromatic scheme and is made of the same materials. A different stitch was used however (chain stitch), and its design, dominated by a large flower in a niche, is more elaborate and of much finer quality. The hanging dates to around 1700, but by the beginning of the seventeenth century similar tent hangings had already been depicted in Mughal paintings, for example in a Jahangirnama manuscript from 1620.556

32. COLCHA WITH SUN – SECOND OR THIRD PHASE

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century, probably around 1640 284 x 218 cm Silk foundation in natural white with polychrome (blue, green, red, yellow) bombyx mori embroidery; chain stitch and backstitch Museu Municipal de Setúbal, Inv. 2598557

The colcha is originally from the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Setúbal. Among other social services, the Misericórdias provided for the transfer of heritages from the Portuguese colonies back to Lisbon, which may explain the existence of this colcha in their collection; it may have come from India as part of an inheritance, but might not have found an heir, or was presented as a gift to this institution.558 The layout is easy to read: one border surrounds the middle field, which in turn is dominated by a large sun. Like the previous colcha, its background is densely quilted. The borders are structured by interlacing ropes that form medallions in which the signs of the zodiac are depicted accompanied by the respective antique gods as planets; a concept very similar to certain Solomon colchas including the zodiac (cat. no. 20), but its execution on this colcha is much cruder and the content less complex. It provides however another example for travelling models. Additionally the border contains smaller flowers and birds, the corners are accentuated by rosettes, and the colcha’s guard stripes feature regularly aligned circles in different colours. The middle field is dominated by a large red sun issuing long rays; its circular centre has human features. Above and below we see bushes issuing star-shaped flowers each flanked by two phoenixes on each side, flying towards the sun to be reborn. They have a scaly body, spread wings and long, colourful tails. The depiction of large birds in the corners of the middle field is also a characteristic of the following group, linking the two. The central motifs, the sun and the phoenixes, imply the Christian Resurrection. Both the dominant sun as 556 See: Thackston (ed.), 1999, p. 252, Painting, Freer Gallery of Art, F31.20. 557 As described in the catalogue: Brussels 1991, image 104. 558 See for instance: Souza, 1986, pp. 27–29.

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32. Colcha with sun, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century; Museu Municipal de Setúbal, Inv. 2598

33. Figurative/Floral Colcha with Mythological Birds – Third Phase

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sol invictus and the resurrecting phoenix may be interpreted as symbols of Christ. A claim to cosmic dominance is supported by the zodiac in the borders. The colcha thus lends itself well to a Christian reading, placing Christ, the sun, in the centre of the cosmos, which the zodiac supplements. Another possibility would be to place the programme as before in the context of the renewal of the political regime in Portugal around 1640, similar to a previous colcha (cat. nos. 21). Commissioned in Gujarat it would show the alliance of its owner with the seceded Portuguese kingdom; the zodiac would refer to the cosmic dimensions of this dominion. This interpretation would require a dating to the mid seventeenth century, after 1640. However it presupposes an understanding of Christian symbolism or contemporary Portuguese politics; a viewer from a different cultural background may have interpreted it in another way entirely. Taking the parallel production of textiles of different qualities into account, one should not forget that the textile market catered to a very diverse clientele.

33. FIGURATIVE/FLORAL COLCHA WITH MYTHOLOGICAL BIRDS – THIRD PHASE

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late sixteenth century, first half seventeenth century, before 1640 280 x 195 cm Dark-blue silk satin with polychrome silk embroidery (red, yellow, white, green, blue, brown); predominantly chain stitch, backstitch, fringes in two colours Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid, Inv. 2012

This colcha is one of the key pieces of the figurative/floral group since it is from the royal Spanish collection (See colour plate 11). The Kings of Spain reigned over Portugal and Spain in personal union from 1580 to 1640, during which time therefore they had direct access to goods coming to Lisbon from the Estado da Índia. Lisbon served as the main port for imports from the Portuguese overseas territories, while imports from Spanish America arrived via Seville. This meant that from the date of independence of Portugal in 1640 the Spanish Kings lost direct access to Lisbon’s port and its Indian imports. Therefore 1640 is quite a plausible terminus ante quem for the production of this colcha and of many other art objects of Indian origin in the royal Spanish collections.559 However, it has to be kept in mind that Indian objects continued to be sold quite freely, as is attested in at least two letters surviving from 1653, written by a resident of Madrid who ordered Indian colchas directly from Lisbon.560 559 Exhibition Catalogue: Madrid 2003, pp. 143–148. 560 Letter of D. Juan Capillas Escobar to Pedro de Faria, June 22, 1653. Biblioteca da Ajuda, Avulsos, 51-VIII-41. Fls. 366–366v; Letter of D. Juan Capillas Escobar to André Lopes Dias, June 22, 1653.

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This colcha is characteristic of the subgroup featuring birds in the centre including all the important characteristics, the floral decoration, the organisation and the different central birds. The layout of the colcha from Madrid is simple and very similar to that of the phoenix/pineapple group but also to contemporary Safavid medallion carpets: one large border surrounds the rectangular middle field. The border features four crowned doubleheaded eagles, probably referring to the Habsburgs, and different peaceful animals (Indian holy cows, gazelles, birds and rabbits; no predator is depicted) and flowers; its guard stripes contain undulating vine scrolls issuing flowers. The corner squares of the border, as well as the central medallion, each depict a self-sacrificing pelican, the oft encountered symbol linked in this context to the Avis dynasty, but also appropriated by Philip II. The combination of the mythical birds recalls the programme of the polychrome Bengal colcha of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (cat. no. 7), which also featured pelicans in combination with crowned double-headed eagles. In the light of this parallel both colchas can be similarly interpreted. The bird’s manner of depiction also resembles that of Bengal colchas, suggesting a similar model: a scaly body, widely-spread wings, and brood in front of the bird. The central circle is divided into three registers, the first of which is filled with flowers, the second with animals alternating with flowers. The pelican resides in the centre. Above and below the centre featuring the pelican are two more crowned double-headed eagles, flanked by two peacocks and several smaller birds. The founder of the convent Las Descalzas Reales was a former queen of Portugal and a daughter of Charles V, Joana de Austria (1535–1573). Its nuns were recruited from the foremost families of Spain, each bringing a rich dowry. Given the closeness of the ruling family to the monastery housing the colcha, which dates to after the death of Joana, it is quite reasonable to read its programme in a political way. The crowned double-headed eagles are related to the Habsburg dynasty, and the pelican, appropriated from the Aviz dynasty, is in this context interpreted as a symbol of rightful Spanish inheritance of the Portuguese throne and dominance over Portugal and its overseas dominions. Interpreted this way this colcha would have made a splendid diplomatic gift to the king or queen of Spain, who then donated it to the monastery. However, it has not yet been discovered when it came into the collection of the convent, nor who gave it.

Biblioteca da Ajuda, Avulsos, 51-VIII-41. Both transcribed in Pedroso, 2003, p. 72 and Apêndice Documental: document 7and 8.

34. Figurative/Floral Colcha with Five Senses – Third Phase

34. FIGURATIVE/FLORAL COLCHA WITH FIVE SENSES – THIRD PHASE

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Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century, before 1640 280 x 190 cm Dark-blue silk foundation (?) with polychrome (white, yellow, red, green, brown) silk (bombyx mori) embroidery; chain stitch and backstitch Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Inv. Collezione Carrand 2258561

In 1888 the French collector Louis Carrand bequeathed his collection including this colcha to the Museo Nazionale del Bargello. The textile was probably bought from an old Italian collection, many of which were dissolved and sold during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Carrand’s collection included for instance various pieces from the former Medici collection. The Medici inventories of the later sixteenth century do indeed list several colchas whose descriptions correspond to colchas of this kind, as, for example: “A cover of Indian cotton full with silk embroidery of leaves in different colours…”562 However, it is far from certain that this colcha was actually part of the Medici collection, but it remains a possibility. As the name suggests, the predominant feature of the colchas of this subgroup are the five senses – visualisation of human nature and often associated with love and virtue but also sin.563 In the light of their subject matter, it is plausible that the colchas were used in a more intimate sphere of an elite interior as a hanging or to cover a bed or table. Owing to the association of this theme with love, colchas like this one were perfectly suitable as parts of a dowry. The colcha depicts only one female figure placed in the centre, most other colchas of this type include all five senses represented by female personifications. The layout is the same as in the previous piece: the rectangular middle field is surrounded by a wide border featuring hunters on horseback and animals in symmetrical order. The only difference is that the run of the guard stripes is not interrupted in the corners, which are accentuated by crowned double-headed eagles. The hunters are depicted in a similar manner to those of the Bengal colchas of the red group (cat. no. 29/30). They are in choreographic order and are quite hieratic. The circular centre in two registers depicts alternating flowers and animals in the outer register and a woman in European costume with a bird, probably a parrot, on her gloved hand in the middle, presumably the representation of the sense of touch, often shown with a dog on other colchas. Parrots were very much en vogue in European courts of the six561 Bunt, 1942, p. 277–278; Carmignani, 1991, pp. 102–107. 562 ASF, Guardaroba Medicea 79, Inventory of Ferdinando’s possessions in Rome, fl. 388. Another colcha from the Bargello was published by: Bonito Fanelli, 1970, 17–36. A Bengali colcha which the author was not able to view. 563 See for example: Nordenfalk, 1985, pp. 1–22.

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34. Figurative/Floral colcha with five senses, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Inv. Collezione Carrand 2258

35. Figurative/Floral Colcha with the Five Senses

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teenth and seventeenth centuries and are often depicted in paintings from that time. Pope Leo X even had his own parrot room.564 In contrast to the seated ladies, who represent the five senses, this elegantly dressed woman (or rather, girl, as her loose hair suggests) is shown in full length. She stands on a veranda that ends in a brick wall and offers a view of the flowers in the garden. In the middle field above and below the centre at each side we see a crowned double-headed eagle flanked by two peacocks, surrounded by flowers and smaller birds. The six eagles evoke the Habsburg dynasty, and make a dating of the colcha to before 1640 more probable.

35. FIGURATIVE/FLORAL COLCHA WITH THE FIVE SENSES

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century 284 x 218 cm Dark-blue silk foundation with polychrome (green, brown, yellow, white, red) silk, fringes in three colours and tassels; chain stitch Philadelphia Museum of Art, Inv. 1988-7–4565

The colchas depicting the five senses are very homogeneous in style and layout with a border surrounding a middle field, indicating that the same models were used. At least four colchas of this type survive. In this textile, the five senses are represented by five courtly female figures. Their costume is characteristic of the early seventeenth century and is composed of colourful fabrics and accessories such as feathers. Their attributes identify them as the five senses: the sense of touch for instance plays with a dog and reaches out for a fruit. This sense is positioned in the centre of all known colchas featuring these motifs. The sense of smell is represented by a woman smelling a flower, the sense of taste drinks wine, the sense of hearing plays a lute and the sense of sight holds a mirror.566 On the Philadelphia colcha four of the senses with their respective attributes are depicted in the corners of the outer border (clockwise): smell, taste, sight and hearing. The remainder of the border is filled with animals similar to those of the colcha of the Museo de Artes Decorativas in Madrid, but including hunting animals. The middle field features two fantastic birds flanking a vase issuing floral branches. The two birds are surrounded by smaller birds and flowers. The central circle in two registers shows flowers and animals in the outer part and the sense of touch reclining on a cushion in the centre. The lack of politically charged birds makes this item better tradable to different markets. 564 Weddigen, 2006. 565 Blum, 1997, no. 274. Philadelphia, 1990, pp. 9–10. 566 Other colchas of this type are in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, In the Casa Museu Castro Guimarães in Cascais, the Art Institute on Chicago and in Berlin in the Kunstgewerbemuseum.

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35. Figurative/Floral colcha with the five senses, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first third seventeenth century; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Inv. 1988-7–4

36. Figurative/Floral colcha with Venus and Mars – Third Phase

36. FIGURATIVE/FLORAL COLCHA WITH VENUS AND MARS – THIRD PHASE

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Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century 296 x 221 cm Silk foundation in pink and creamy white, polychrome silk bombyx mori embroidery (yellow, white, green, blue, red, brown, black); chain stitch with colourful undulating fringes Museu do Caramulo da Fundação Abel de Lacerda, Serra do Caramulo, Inv. FAL 461, donation José Silveira Machado567

The physicist Abel de Lacerda founded a sanatorium and annexed to it a museum of quite heterogeneous content, most famous for an impressive automobile collection, in the Serra do Caramulo, not far from Coimbra (See colour plate 12). The colcha housed there was donated by José Silveira Machado and is a remarkable example from this group. It is unique in content and its employment of different colours (pink and white) for the silk foundation of the colcha, clearly separating the borders from the centre, a feature occasionally seen on Safavid carpets. The remnants of multi-coloured fringes line the edges. The layout of the piece is strictly symmetrical and again evokes the organisation of certain sixteenth-century Safavid medallion carpets: a large outer border surrounds a rectangular field featuring a central medallion.568 The border is filled with different floral motifs, very skilfully stitched, which serve as a background for the fauna. It is regularly subdivided by the recurrent scroll pattern, which begins with a fan-shaped cartouche form filled with fine flowers, reminiscent of architectural details of the Mughal period. Two branches grow out from the centre of this cartouche, which is marked by a blossom; the point in the middle of the field at which they intersect is covered by a large round yellow-white lotus. The branches divide and converge again in the next geometrical structure. This pattern continues, giving a very regular visual rhythm to the colcha. The background is stitched with small flowers and leaves, lending a sense of paradisiacal irreality to the space in which animals are placed: two deer and two birds, one at either side. They are repeated in every border module. The background is filled with the same flower pattern as the main corpus and shows two pairs of symmetrically positioned birds. The guard stripes are embroidered with a pattern which resembles twisted cords and lends a certain dynamic quality to the piece. The coiled cord is punctuated by individual flowers. The crossing points of the small borders are marked with a stylised flower. The centre of the Caramulo colcha is dominated by a large circular medallion. Surrounding it are floral patterns of stunning variety. A quarter of a rosette, surrounded and filled 567 See: Karl, 2004a, pp. 3–16. 568 Compare for instance: the silk hunting carpet of the Museum für angewandte Kunst Vienna: Völker, 2001, pp. 198–204.

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with flowers, is situated in each corner. Above it, birds perch in a finely stitched bush. A flower grows out of the surrounding border in the middle of the longitudinal side. Its leaves are pale green and creamy white; its blossoms are deep red. Some of these flowers are in bloom, some are half open, and a few are still buds. Similar flowers can be found, for example, in the architectural decoration of the jharoka in the Red Fort in Delhi,569 or in the flowers carved on the walls of the Taj Mahal, but also in Mughal album paintings from this period and, of course, in Mughal textiles such as the splendid piece from the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS 168–1950).570 The fantastic flower is surrounded by birds of paradise that clearly emphasise the aforementioned allusions to an eternal garden. Allusions to another world are rampant in the central medallion depicting the discovery of the lovers Mars and Venus by Vulcan, the husband of the latter, a scene narrated among others by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, IV, 169–257.571 Venus and Mars serve as the eternal archetypes of woman and man. The illustration of the same scene by Bernard Salomon in one of his publications of Ovid’s Metamorphoses may have provided the model for this.572 Similar representations can be seen on majolica plates of Urbino, but also in countless sixteent and seventeenth century paintings, prints and carvings. This amusing love scene is in accord with the courtly taste of the time in Europe. The erotic theme strongly indicates that this colcha was used for decorating private apartments, probably as a hanging. Since it was entirely of silk it fitted into the hierarchic concept of palatial interior decoration, in which silk took the highest rank. The excellent condition of the piece makes it improbable that was used as a bedcover or tablecloth. The mythological scene is surrounded by the same rope scroll visible in the borders. The background of the lower part shows the three gods in action. It is decorated with pale green leaves and various blossoms; a small bush grows at the right, at the left, a tree. Both have birds and various kinds of blossoms in their branches. Moreover, the shield and the armour of Mars hang on the branches of the tree, beneath which the couple reclines, unaware of their impending fate. Mars, who is still wearing his helmet, embraces Venus, who, wearing only a necklace and bracelet, drapes her arm around his shoulder. Their light blue coverlet is adorned with a flower pattern. Behind this idyllic scene the betrayed Vulcan approaches; he has woven a fine golden net in order to catch the two. Oddly, he is clothed only in shorts. He moves toward the couple, and is in the process of throwing the net over them. The embroidery depicts the moment just before the capture. The council of gods resides at a distance from the dramatic scene. In the original myth, they are not present when the lovers are caught, but first appear later after having been summoned by Vulcan. Still, their curious looks and gestures are all directed toward Mars and Venus. The nude torsos of the 569 570 571 572

Koch, 1988. Crill, 1999, p. 42. Davidson Reid, 1993, vol. I, p. 195. Salomon, 1559. Venus and Mars discovered fl. 52.

37. Battlefield Colcha – Third Phase

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gods hover on a cloud, from right to left as follows: Minerva with helmet, Juno with a peacock, her husband the crowned Jupiter, holding lightning shafts in his left hand. Apollo, the sun god, and Neptune with his trident can be seen as well. The clouds are reminiscent of Chinese models. The representation of the gods in the clouds was adapted in Mughal album paintings of Akbar’s court as well. At the emperor’s behest, some of the most important Sanskrit texts, such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, had been translated into Persian and illustrated with paintings. These illustrations often depict Hindu gods situated in clouds above the scenery, as can be seen a painting from the Victoria & Albert Museum (IS 5–1970) collection.573 European angels are often portrayed this way in Mughal painting as well.574 Given the closeness to Mughal art of the late Akbar and Jahangir period a date in the first half of the sixteenth century is plausible. It is also possible that similar colchas were traded to culturally open Mughal society.

37. BATTLEFIELD COLCHA – THIRD PHASE

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century 264 x 202 cm Dark-blue silk foundation with polychrome silk (bombyx mori) embroidery (red, yellow, white, green, blue), fringes in three colours; chain stitch Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 50.3224

This colcha is another unique example and was probably a special commission (See colour plate 13). A large battle scene decorates the middle field of this colcha, which is thematically similar to the Bengal battle colcha (cat. no. 24). The martial content of this textile indicates its use in a more ceremonial place in an elite interior. The broad border surrounding the middle field is filled with hunting scenes including Portuguese men on horseback with swords and lances interspersed by flowers and animals similar to the colcha of the Bargello (cat. no. 34), except that in this case, the figures depicted are granted more freedom of action. The guard stripes feature alternating flowers and birds. The corners are filled with four different motifs illustrating the cultural diversity of these textiles: a colourfully dressed young man in European fashion flanked by flowers, a red Indian tiger-lion, a crowned double-headed eagle and a sacred Indian cow. The battle of the middle field is divided into quarters and crowned by a thin band of clouds of Chinese inspiration. Each quarter consists of about sixty soldiers in 573 Stronge, 2002. 574 As pointed out to me by: Okada, 1992, p. 44. Picture of Akbar with lion and calf from the Metropolitan Museum of New York.

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arms. All in all, the men number about 240, which is not a high number compared to the approximately one thousand men depicted on the Bengal colcha. The two armies facing each other can be identified by their flags and banners: the Portuguese, with the red cross of the Order of Christ and the Portuguese coat of arms are pitted against an army whose flags bear the crescent and the sun, symbol of the old Zoroastrians, which suggests that the Safavid-Iranian army is being portrayed here. Even the headgear and uniforms of the soldiers make their identity quite clearly distinguishable: Scythian caps (an antique feature, in contemporary Safavid art, Iranians are usually shown with their characteristic turbans) for the Iranians – some of whom are bearded – and the hats and helmets characteristic of the Portuguese. The fight itself is very ceremonial. The bulk of the armies remain in their quarters and amidst the combatants; only a few bodies of fallen soldiers and cannons (a deadly European import) can be seen. The fighting infantry is depicted above and the cavalry below; both are in strict symmetry. The Museum documentation attributes this skirmish to one of the battles of Hormuz, but the images on the colcha include neither a fortress nor ships, which, aware that Hormuz is a small island, would certainly have been associated with such a battle. The colcha is not in fact portraying a specific confrontation, but rather a symbolic fight between the soldiers of the true – as they considered – Catholic faith (the Portuguese) and the Muslim faith (in this case the Iranians). Depictions of the fight against the enemy of the Catholic faith (Protestants and Muslims alike) formed an important element of Catholic propaganda. Under this pretext battles were fought on many levels and in many locations during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The imagery of this colcha is in perfect accord with the ideology of Portuguese expansionism, an essential characteristic of which still manifested a crusader spirit.

38. COLCHA WITH FLORAL VINE SCROLLS – THIRD PHASE

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century 259 x 195 cm Naturally white silk foundation with polychrome (green, red, white, yellow, and light blue) bombyx mori embroidery; chain stitch and fringes with tassels Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3704

In terms of layout, this colcha is very similar to the previous group, with one border surrounding a rectangular middle field. In the corners of the borders and the middle field, hybrid figures enliven and sustain the lavish spiralling vine scrolls sprouting various fantastic flowers extending between them. These figures are further adaptations (or rather, simplifications) of the mermaids so frequently depicted on Bengal colchas, also on Indian furniture commissioned by the Portuguese. The guard stripes depict undulating vine scrolls sprouting small flowers. The colcha’s decoration is perfectly symmetrical, repeated four

38. Colcha with Floral Vine Scrolls – Third Phase

263

38. Colcha with floral vine scrolls, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3704

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times along the horizontal and the vertical axis. The centre features two eagles flanking a heart-shaped form, perhaps interpretable as the heart of Christ. The eagles support the crown extended above them. It seems the motif of the crowned double-headed eagle has been revised or misunderstood: the imperial bird has been split into two separate birds which no longer have the same body, but wear the same crown, which makes a specific political interpretation of this textile difficult. The floral decoration is significantly different from the colchas of the former Gujarati group, displaying a roundness of expression that indicates European floral motifs inspired by widely circulating herbals.575 A Mughal velvet in purple from the mid- seventeenth century (Metropolitan Museum in New York, Inv. 41.190.156) is very similar in terms of layout, but its floral designs are less lavish. Several other contemporary Mughal embroideries feature similar colour combinations but are different in style.576 Generally closest in style to this large group, of which only a few specimen are discussed here, are the early carpets of the French Savonnerie manufacture established by order of King Louis XIII in the 1620s; whether the similarities constitute a parallel phenomenon or whether the Indian embroideries influenced the designs of the early Savonnereies remains to be researched. This is nonetheless a telling parallel and also provides a hint in dating the textiles to the first half of the seventeenth century. In addition, the Indian chintz textiles exported to Europe in considerable quantities, show increasing stylistic parallels. This suggests that similar models and colour combinations were used for embroidered and painted and printed Indian textiles for export.

39. COLCHA WITH FLORAL VINE SCROLLS – THIRD PHASE

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century 256 x 193 cm Dark-blue silk foundation with polychrome (light- and dark-yellow, pink and rose), fringes; chain stitch Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14407

The layout of this colcha is strictly symmetrical similar to the previous piece, with a border surrounding the middle field; the decoration and colours were somewhat simplified. The undulating vine scrolls sprouting fantastic flowers and leaves are embroidered in light yellow, the branches are elegantly framed by a dark yellow line. In terms of quality, this colcha is coarser than the previous piece but stylistically, seems more advanced owing to the 575 Colchas similar to the ones discussed are in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the Museu Nacional do Traje, both Lisbon. Recently one other appeared in a catalogue of Francesca Galloway, London. 576 Crill, 1999.

39. Colcha with Floral Vine Scrolls – Third Phase

265

39a. Detail of middle-field colcha with floral vine scrolls, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, first half seventeenth century; Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14407

39b. Detail of border

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complete omission of the figurative element, the mermaids of the former embroidery were replaced by a ribbon securing the branches (in the corners), it was probably produced a bit later than the first piece. The style of the colchas evolved during the seventeenth century as new consumer markets in North Europe were tapped, and ever more fantastic plants of European inspiration were introduced into Indian textile design for export, for example, a flower with an elongated blossom featured in the centre of this piece. Since so few printed and painted Indian textiles survive from an earlier date it is difficult to tell when the voluminous floral design became predominant in Indian export textiles made for Europe. Doubtlessly it dominated the second half of the seventeenth and the eighteenth century.

40. COLCHA WITH FLORAL VINE SCROLLS – THIRD PHASE

Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, second half seventeenth century As it is entirely covered in red, dark-yellow and light-yellow silk (bombyx mori) embroidery, the cotton foundation is not visible; chain stitch (scrolls), satin stitch (red background embroidery) Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14408

This colcha’s layout again features one border surrounding a middle field in strict symmetry and illustrates a further development in style. It is mainly characterised by long spirals growing out of the branches of its very lavish, symmetrically arranged vine scrolls sprouting flowers. Its foundation is completely covered with red embroidery, and the densely spiralling vine scrolls no longer depict flowers. The textile pattern repeats along the vertical and horizontal axis, but, rather than offering an eye-catcher as before, its centre contains only a tiny blossom. With its repeated design, this piece should be dated to the second half of the seventeenth century. In view of their decoration, they were used in the more intimate spheres of the household.



267

40a. Detail of middle-field colcha with floral vine scrolls, Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, second half seventeenth century; Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14408

40b. Detail of border

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41. COLCHA – ALCATIFA DE OURO

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late seventeenth/early eighteenth century (stylistically this production recalls earlier models, similar pieces might have been made earlier) 310 x 247 cm Tabby weave cotton foundation in faded red, polychrome embroidery with various shades of red and green, also black and white; satin stitch and couching for the metal-wrapped threads Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2232577

The overall impression of many colchas of this group is highly reminiscent of designs employed Safavid medallion carpets (See colour plate 14).578 Somewhat stricter than other colchas they also feature elements that recall sixteenth century Ottoman models (especially in the saz leaves and red blossoms) but at the same time sixteenth century Gujarati mother-of-pearl overlay chests, suggesting that the colchas of this type were made from that period onwards –documents discussed before support this view.579 Other common features are the predominant use of gold and silver threads and the strong red employed for the flowers. In view of the material, the colchas or alcatifas de ouro were very probably the most expensive pieces available for export. Sumptuary laws probably targeted them when used too openly once in private possession. In the museum documentation this textile is designated as alcatifa de estrado carpet for a dais. The Museu do Oriente also calls these textiles alcatifa – carpet in its documentation (see cat. no. 46). Because of their good condition it is doubtful whether they were used as such. Three borders of varying width surround the rectangular middle field, with accentuation of its corners and centre. The decoration is strictly symmetrical. The outer border is decorated with simplified arcades including individual flowers – a motif recalling Mughal art. The second border consists of large blossoms sprouting luxuriant leaves reminiscent of contemporary Ottoman saz leaves and finer floral elements. The third border is adorned with individual flowers alternating with green branches that form brackets around them. The individual borders are separated by narrow guard stripes featuring undulating vine scrolls with flowers. In the middle field the corners and the centre are emphasised by gold 577 http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=247105 (consulted 10.9. 2012) ; Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81–86: Includes cohchineal, that ony came to India with the Portuguese, who had imported it from America. 578 Colchas of this group are today in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Loretoschatz in Klausen, the Palacio Fronteira In Lisbon, the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Palacio da Pena in Sintra the Palacio dos Duques de Bragança in Guimarães, the Bostin Museum of Fine Art and in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. 579 Digby, 1985, pp. 213. Especially detailed: Jordão Felgueiras, 1996, pp. 128–155; Sangl, 2001, pp. 263– 28; Sangl, 2007, pp. 257–266; Karl, 2010a.

42. Colcha – alcatifa de ouro

269

couching including floral designs embroidered with silk thread. The central star rosette is inscribed in a pointed oval and issues eight pairs of leaves that are surrounded by a garland of flowers. Fan-shaped cartouches extend from the central rosette. Spiralling vine scrolls issuing fantastic fan-shaped flowers decorate the remainder of the middle field. Thanks to their somewhat flatter style and floral decoration, the colchas of this group were traded to very different markets; one survives in Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and specimens surviving in Portugal served many functions in the secular as well as sacred context, as some survivors in ecclesiastic and palatial collections suggest.

42. COLCHA – ALCATIFA DE OURO

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, later seventeenth century 182 x 152 cm Undyed white cotton foundation in tabby weave; quilted and polychrome embroidery with various shades of red, green and gold as well as black and white); satin stitch and couching for the metal wrapped threads Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. IM 2-1912580

This colcha is quite similar to the colcha discussed above, but uses less metal thread and was thus less expensive. The fact that both colchas depict the same motifs does not necessarily mean that they were also produced at the same time, since successful patterns were produced as long as they were sold; this is true for most colcha production. The borders of this colcha are missing, the middle field is decorated by a pointed oval including a rosette issuing eight red flowers. The corners are accentuated by floral elements similar to the central rosette. The remainder of the field is decorated by a delicate spiralling vine scroll sprouting fantastic flowers in different sizes.

43. COLCHA WITH FIVE SENSES – ALCATIFA DE OURO

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, later seventeenth century 306 x 240 cm Satin silk foundation, silk (bombyx mori) embroidery in red, rose, violet, various greens, yellow, metal; satin stitch and couching for the metal threads: fringes with silk and metal wrapped threads Musée Guimet/Collection Krishna Riboud, Paris, Inv. AEDTA 3407581

580 Crill, 1999, p. 34. 581 Catalogue: Bordeaux 1998, p. 126. Bought at Spinks, 1998.

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42. Colcha – alcatifa de ouro, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late seventeenth, first half eighteenth century; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. IM. 2-1912

44. Altar Frontal – alcatifa de ouro

271

So far this is the only known colcha of this group featuring human figures (See colour plate 15); the female personifications of the five senses, a popular theme that already appeared in the figurative Gujarati group (cat. no. 34, 35). The large quantities of gold and silver employed in its design give this textile a particularly high material value. Its technique and layout are similar to previous pieces, but their evolved style lends credence to a date in the later seventeenth century. In view of its good state of preservation, the textile was probably used as a hanging. One wide border surrounds the middle field. It contains large rosettes issuing spiralling vine scrolls that end in fan-shaped flowers and include birds. The elaborate guard stripes are decorated with an elegant leaf design featuring interspersed flowers. The middle field is dominated by a central rosette showing a woman gazing into a mirror (sense of sight). The rosette issues eight branches sprouting multiple spiralling vine scrolls and ending in large flowers, four of which, namely, those placed in the corners of the middle field, include the remaining four senses: a woman holding a lute, a woman with a bird, a woman with a glass of wine and a woman with flowers. A bird in flight is depicted beneath each of the four figurative rosettes.

44. ALTAR FRONTAL – ALCATIFA DE OURO

Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, second half seventeenth century, before 1700 98 x 225 cm Cotton foundation in layers; silk (bombyx mori) embroidery in red, rose, various greens, yellow, silver, gold; satin stitch and couching for the metal wrapped threads Loretoschatz, Stadtmuseum Klausen, Italy582

The colcha was cut and tailored into the present altar frontal. Its the basic organisation remains very similar to the previous pieces. Its provenance from the treasure of the Spanish queen (discussed in detail before), which provides 1700 as terminus ante quem, the piece is crucial for dating the entire group and hints at an elite consumer market. The cotton foundation is quilted with silk and worked with couched silver and silk threads. One border surrounds the cut middle field and is ornamented with individual flowers. In the middle field the centre features a circular rosette issuing twelve blossoms, inscribed in a pointed oval. Fan-shaped cartouches extend from the central rosette and end in poplar shapes (similar to cat. no. 41). The corner segments were cut. The remainder of the middle field is embroidered with generously spiralling vine scrolls ending in diverse fantastic flowers.

582 Theil, 1976, Vitrine 7.

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44. Colcha – alcatifa de ouro, Gujarat/Ahmedabad region, late seventeenth, eighteenth century; Klausen, Stadtmuseum

45. COLCHA – ALCATIFA DE OURO

Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, later seventeenth, first half eighteenth century 342 x 265 cm Layered cotton foundation with silk – bombyx mori – embroidery in silver, gold, red, white, yellow, light blue, black, green – some of the colours in differing shades); satin stitch and couching for the metal wrapped threads Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 1926583

The following words were written in ink on the back of the colcha (See colour plate 16): “Esta colcha pertence à Freguesia de Santa Maria de Belém. Ill Pnos (?) Philippe Nery dos Santos” (This colcha belongs to the civil parish of S. Maria de Belem. The name probably refers to the man who donated the piece). The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Belém, one of the emblematic buildings of Portuguese expansion included the most important church of the parish; it houses the tombs of Vasco da Gama and the poet Luís de Camões, both mythically charged figures of the Portuguese expansion. If not from the monastery itself, the col583 Dye analysis: Serrano/Pacheco Pereira/Seruya/Lopes, 2015, pp. 81–86.

46. Colcha

273

cha was at least part of an official entity within the freguesia and was probably used as for decoration at official occasions. So far it has not been discovered when and how the colcha was acquired for the parish, but its advanced style suggests a date during the first half of the eighteenth century, illustrating that the Portuguese, still possessing Goa, continued to import colchas with new designs from India. Every square centimetre of the colcha is filled with embroidery; the spaces between the polychrome pattern are all couched with gold threads. The outermost and innermost of the three borders are decorated in the same manner, each with very stylised red flowers under arcades. The larger border in between is embellished by fan-shaped flowers alternating with smaller rosettes and surrounded by lavish leaves. The middle field is not structured around a centre, but instead has been embellished in repeat pattern of horizontal rows of fan-shaped flowers alternating with smaller rosettes flanked by lavish leaves. A stylistic parallel ito the arts of Mughal India can be detected in the development of lattice carpets during the seventeenth century, also featuring a repeat design in the main field. A similar colcha still today hangs prominently in the interior of the Palacio da Fronteira in Lisbon.

46. COLCHA

Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, first half eighteenth century 265 x 215,5 cm Cotton foundation in layers, different shades of red, blue, green, yellow silk; satin stitch Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Inv. FO-1089

Owing to the similarities in technique, the last two colchas seem to be linked to the production of the alcatifas de ouro and exemplify the diversification of production. This colcha is very vivacious; elements of its design and colour combination are strongly reminiscent of painted Indian chintz textiles – embroideries like this would of course be sold more expensively in Europe since it took more time to produce them and more valuable materials than chintz cottons. The floral decoration is strictly symmetrical but the fantastic flowers and scrolls are more lavish and much truer to the voluminous European models such as are found in herbals than before. The organisation is simple: a broad floral border including different fantastic flowers and lavish leaf forms surrounds the middle field. The symmetrical centre is formed by a rosette encased by eight fantastic floral forms. Above and below the centre vases issue branches, again featuring many different kinds of flowers in all directions. The corners are also accentuated by floral structures. The composition as a whole is accentuated by green leaves in elongated forms.584 584 A colcha very similar to this is in the Palacio Nacional de Sintra. The author thanks Carla Alferes Pinto for pointing out the piece.

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46. Colcha, Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, late seventeenth/early eighteenth century; Fundação Oriente, Lisbon, Inv. FO-1089

47. COLCHA

47. Colcha

Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, eighteenth century 287 x 249 cm Layered cotton (lining), light-blue silk foundation, silk embroidery in different kinds of red and green, rose, brown, yellow, black, white and silver); satin stitch and couching for the metal wrapped threads Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 1978.53

275

Together with the colcha owned by the Hispanic Society in New York, this colcha represents a further development of the colchas also called alcatifas de ouro. Their visual appearance indicates they were produced for the European market. Because of their quite developed style they have been dated to the eighteenth century. The layout of this colcha remains much the same as before, as do its materials and techniques, but the new colour contrast, the light-blue silk foundation and the fine execution lend it a more elegant character. Of the two sole borders, the outer is decorated with spiralling vine scrolls issuing fanshaped flowers and delicate leaves grapes. The inner border is occupied by an undulating vine scroll issuing blossoms and leaves interspersed with animals (goats, tigers and dogs). The guard stripes feature fine floral vine scrolls. The middle field is accentuated by four corner segments, each a repetition of the circular central medallion. The central medallion is divided into three registers. A peacock fanning his tail is embroidered in an very realistic manner into the very centre. The two registers include pairs of birds alternating with a delicate vine scroll issuing flowers and leaves. The remainder of the middle field is decorated by spiralling vine scrolls sprouting flowers and grapes.

276

Bibliography

47. Colcha, Gujarat, Ahmedabad region, eighteenth century; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 1978.53

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Appendix

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AGS – Archivo General de Simancas

AHU – Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino ASF –Achivio di Stato di Firenze

BN –Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, Lisbon

IAN/TT – Instituto do Arquivo Nacional/Torre do Tombo

IMAGE CREDITS

No. 1 © MAK-Museum für angewandte Kunst/Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, Georg Mayer No. 2 © Kunsthistorisches Museum/Wien, Schloss Ambras No. 3, 17, 37, 47, © Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Nos. 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 38, 41, 45 ©Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Direção-Geral do Património Cultural / Arquivo de Documentação Fotográfica (DGPC/ADF)

No. 6 © Bayerisches Nationalmuseum No. 8 © Cleveland Museum of Art

Nos. 9, 10, 18, 39, 40 © Museu Nacional do Traje No. 13 © Tokugawa Art Museum

No. 14 © The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Gift of Cora Ginsurg

No. 15 © Iparmüveszeti Muzeum/Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest Nos. 19, 30, 42 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London No. 20 © Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon

No. 22 © Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Direção-Geral do Património Cultural / Arquivo de Documentação Fotográfica (DGPC/ADF)

No. 25 © Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, Boston

No. 32 © Museu Municipal de Setúbal, Direção-Geral do Património Cultural / Arquivo de Documentação Fotográfica (DGPC/ADF).

No. 33 © Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid

No. 34 © Museu Nazionale del Bargello/Collezione Carrand

No.35 © Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of the Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

No. 36 © Museu do Caramulo da Fundação Abel de Lacerda, Serra do Caramulo

295

No. 43 © Musée Guimet/Collection Krishna Riboud No. 44 © Stadtmuseum Klausen

No. 46 © Museu do Oriente, Lisbon

Nos. 4a,b,9b,c,10b,c,18b,c,d,28c, 39a,b,40a,b and all sketches, Barbara Karl with permission of Direção-Geral do Património Cultural / Arquivo de Documentação Fotográfica (DGPC/ADF)

LIST OF COLCHAS CONSIDERED FOR THIS STUDY Bengal

Bengal, first group – Adapted Elegance/Fine Lines First Phase – second half sixteenth century MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Inv. T 1147–1867 (cat. no. 1)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Broad border around middle field with central rosette,

geometric and floral designs, hunting scenes. Only colcha of this group including no European features.

Second Phase – late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Kunsthistorisches Museum/Schloss Ambras, Vienna/Innsbruck, Inv. PA 72 (cat. no. 2)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders around middle field. Self-sacrificing peli-

can in circular centre. Hunting scenes, fighters, peacocks with snakes.

Musées d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, Inv. T sn 28

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Border laid around geometrically complex divided

middle field. Circular centre with pelican. In addition, fighters, horsemen, animals, hunting scenes.

Musée du Tissus, Lyon, Inv. 28102

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders of different width with hunting scenes,

animals, soldiers, vine scrolls and figures surround the middle field featuring peacocks and animals in a grid pattern. Central circle with a bird in the centre surrounded by European soldiers, peacocks, hounds and gazelles.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4621 tec

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Two borders with hunting scenes, vine scrolls and figures surround the middle field featuring an elegant interlaced central medallion with a doubleheaded eagle. The corner segments depict figures, the space between features hunting scenes.

Formerly Collection of Cora Ginsburg, London (current whereabouts unknown)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with elaborate hunting scenes (elephants, tents), animals fantastic and real and medallions surround the middle field which in-

296

Appendix

cludes a circular centre featuring the personification of Justice surrounded by hunters on horseback and on elephants and animals. I thank Titi Halle for providing the images.

Third Phase – first half seventeenth century

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 01.6269 T.5008 (cat. no. 3)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders of different width around middle field, in medallions four self-sacrificing pelicans. Circular centre in form of a rosette. In addition, animals, tender vine scrolls, flowers, figures. Delicate embroidery of splendid quality.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4581 (cat. no. 4)

Red embroidery on white foundation, hence colcha roxa. Three borders of different width

around a middle field filled with rich hunting scenes and scenes from daily life. Circular centre

with the personification of justice. In addition scenes from the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Splendid and developed example.

Bengal, second group – compact style First Phase – Flat Vine Scroll pattern, c. second half sixteenth century and later Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Inv. T 1979 / 1865

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Two borders around middle field. Centre solution: rec-

tangle with circular indentations and extensions, circular rosette. Flat vine scrolls.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4593 tec (cat. no. 5)

Yellow embroidery on blue silk foundation. Two borders around middle field. Centre solution: rectangle with circular indentations and extensions, circular rosette. Flat vine scrolls.

Skokloster Castle, Sweden

Yellow embroidery on white cotton foundation. Two borders around middle field. Centre solution: rectangle with circular indentations and extensions, circular rosette, circular corner

segments. Flat vine scrolls. From a household assembled during the 17th century. Geijer, 1951, pp.75, 120, no. 122.

Castello Sforzesco, Milan

Yellow embroidery on blue foundation. Two borders around middle field. Centre solution: rectangle with circular indentations and extensions, circular rosette (?). Flat vine scrolls.

Private Collection, London, courtesy of Francesca Galloway

Light-yellow embroidery on dark-yellow foundation. Two borders around middle field. Centre solution: rectangle with circular indentations and extensions, circular rosette. Flat vine scrolls.

Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, Inv. 11–271 (cat. no. 6)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Two borders around middle field. Circular centre solution with rosette. Flat spiralling vine scrolls. Fragment.

Visnums-Kil Church

Silk foundation in two colours, red in the centre yellowish white in the surrounding border. White cotton (!) embroidery. Flat spiralling vine scrolls in borders. Pointed oval and pronounced

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

297

corner solution in middle field. The remainder of the field is filled by a scaly pattern in backstitch. The terminus ante quem of this textile is 1662 when it was retailored into an antependium

(the year and their initials was added by the donours) and donated to the church. Geijer, 1951, pp.75, 120, no. 121.

Second Phase – c. late sixteenth century/first half seventeenth century

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon Inv. 2282 (cat. no.7 )

Polychrome embroidery on white foundation. One border around middle field. Centre solution:

Pelican in rectangle with circular indentations and extensions. Double-headed eagles, flat vine scrolls, polychrome embroidery.

Museu Francisco Tavares Proença Júnior, Castelo Branco, Inv. 2001.3 MFTPJ

Polychrome embroidery on brown foundation. Two borders with geometrized vine scrolls

and double tailed mermaids surround the middle field. The circular centre is dominated by a crowned double-headed eagle and surrounded by four more peacocks.

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Inv. 1969.295

Polychrome embroidery on brown foundation. Two borders around middle field with four mythological scenes. Centre solution: rectangle with circular indentations and extensions depicting the Judgement of Solomon. In four corners the story of Judith and Holofernes. Flat vine scrolls.

Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv.14409 (cat. no. 9)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Two borders with eagles and mythological figures around middle field. Circular centre solution with the Judgement of Solomon. In addition Judith and Holofernes, lions, animals, mermaids. Flat vine scrolls.

Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen, Inv. 57/1969

Fragment. Yellow embroidery on white foundation. One border around middle field. Rectangular centre solution with mermaids and the Judgement of Solomon. In addition Judith and Holofernes, lions, animals. Flat vine scrolls.

Designmuseum, Kopenhague, Inv. 57/1969

Fragment. Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Flat vine scrolls. Two borders with mythological scenes around middle field. Rectangular centre with Judgement of Solomon. Story of Judith in corner segments and double-headed eagles in between.

Cruder Executions – c. late sixteenth century, first half seventeenth century

Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14414 (cat. no. 10)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders around middle field. Rectangular centre with circular extensions and indentations with men sitting on a raised platform. In addition, hunting scenes, couples of figures (not attributable) animals. Crude execution of embroidery.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4582 (cat. no. 11)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders around middle field, circular centre with bird (pelican?), animals, fights, figures and mermaids. Crude execution of embroidery.

Museu Machado Castro, Coimbra, Inv. T 542

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Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, maritime scenes, hunting scenes and vine scrolls around middle field. Centre with Judgement of Solomon, sphinxes, soldiers, eagles. Crude execution of embroidery.

Third Phase – c. first half seventeenth century Hunting Scenes and Mythological Themes

Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt am Main (according to Museum documentation of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga), Inv. 5872

Red embroidery on white foundation. Two borders around middle field with circular solution. Hunting scenes, peacocks and snakes, pairs of figures.

Musée Guimet, Paris, Inv. MA 5702-1760

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Two borders with scrolls and hunting scenes. Circular centre with a couple surrounded by fish and hunting scenes. Unidentifiebale figural scenes in corners. Bordeaux, 1998

Musée Guimet, Paris, Inv. AEDTA 3930

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with hunting scenes and scrolls. Circular

centre with two men on chairs surrounded by fish and hunting scenes, corners made of intertwined snakes with unidentified mythological scenes. Bordeaux, 1998

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon Inv. 2281 (cat. no. 12)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with scrolls and figures around the middle field. Circular centre with pelican. Greek mythological and biblical scenes in the corners.

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya (cat. no.13)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders around a middle field. Circular centre

with a couple. GUY, 1998, p. 165; Tokugawa Bijutsukan, 2009, pp. 147–148, no. 102, image p. 89.

Museum of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Inv. 1987–551 (cat. no. 14)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders w ith scrolls, animals and figures around

a middle field. Circular centre with female figure surrounded by mermaids and hunting scenes. Peacocks in corners.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Inv. M.76.99

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with hunting scenes and delicate vine

scrolls, around middle field. Circular centre with a Nereid on a dolphin, hunting scenes, interesting scenes depicting allegories of money, rest, thoughtfulness and one more with a set table, all identified by inscriptions. All elements unique for the Bengal colchas. This piece represents one of the most delicate executions and thought-out compositions.

Iparmüveszeti Muzeum, Budapest, Inv. 89.617.1 (cat. no. 15)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Two borders with scrolls, mythological and hunt-

ing scenes around a middle field. Circular centre with couple sitting on chairs surrounded by

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

299

Nereids riding fish and hunting scenes. Mythological scenes in corners. Cornucopias. Very developed example

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Inv. 972.117.8

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with hunting scenes and scrolls, eagles

trees of life. Circular centre with mythological scenes in the corners. Cornucopias. Similar to Budapest colcha.

Solomon Colchas Third Phase – c. first half seventeenth century Rectangular Centre Solution

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3692 (cat. no. 16)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes and lions, scrolls and mythological scenes and maritime scenes surround a middle field. The rectangular centre with

circular indentations and extensions is dominated by the Judgement of Solomon, small dragons

and Christological signs. The story of Judith and Holofernes marks the corners. In addition, there are scrolls, soldiers and sphinxes.

Museum of Malmö, Inv. MM 51476

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Consists of several fragments. Three borders with

hunting scenes, scrolls and mythological scenes and maritime scenes around middle field. Indented rectangular centre with elaborate Judgement of Solomon and mythological scenes. Story

of Judith in the corner segments and the story of the pilgrim in between. Programme similar to MNAA 3692.

Private Collection, London

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Surrounding the middle field: four borders with hunting scenes, scrolls and mythological scenes, maritime scenes and one with dragons. The rectangular centre with circular indentations and extensions is larger than in most other colchas and

shows the Judgement of Solomon, a double-headed eagle, sun and moon and two mythologi-

cal scenes. The smaller corners show the story of Judith and Holofernes. In addition, there are mythological scenes.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. 150-69

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with hunting scenes and lions, scrolls, maritime scenes, men on horseback and mythological scenes surround the middle field. The rectangular centre with circular indentations and extensions is larger than in most other colchas

and shows the Judgement of Solomon in armorial form and vine scrolls. Above and below Chris-

tian signs and mythological scenes. The smaller corners show the story of Judith and Holofernes. In addition, there are mythological scenes, a pelican and sphinxes. The basic composition is similar to the former colcha of the private collection.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 46.421 (cat. no. 17)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with maritime scenes (the outer one is

300

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unusually wide), hunting scenes and lions scrolls and mythological scenes surround the com-

paratively small middle field. The rectangular centre with circular indentations and extensions is smaller than in most other colchas and shows the Judgement of Solomon, a double-headed eagle

and two Christological scenes. The narrow corners show the story of Judith and Holofernes. In addition, there are male busts.

Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14410 (cat. no. 18)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, scrolls and mythological scenes, maritime scenes and a smaller one surround the middle field. The rectangular

centre with circular indentations and extensions is larger than in most other colchas and shows

the Judgement of Solomon under a large canopy, mythological scenes and scrolls. The corners

show the story of Judith and Holofernes. In addition, an unidentified story of a pilgrim assassinated by his companion is depicted in four semi circles. This colcha counts among the most splendid examples of Bengal embroidery for the Portuguese market.

Centre Consisting of Heraldic Form

Metropolitan Museum of Art/European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Inv. 1975.4

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, scrolls and mythological scenes, maritime scenes and a smaller one with scrolls surround the middle field. The

rectangular centre shows the Judgement of Solomon in an armorial structure. Surrounded by mythological scenes, and floral patterns. The corners show the story of Judith and Holofernes.

Austin L. Davidson Collection

Yellow embroidery on blue(?) foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, scrolls and mythological scenes, maritime scenes and a smaller one with scrolls surround the middle field. The

rectangular centre shows the Judgement of Solomon in an armorial structure. Surrounded by mythological scenes, and floral patterns. The corners show the story of Judith and Holofernes. Estabrook-Moeller, 1948, 119–132.

Zigzag Border in Middle Field

Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14443

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Fragment, about one third was cut. Three borders with hunting scenes, scrolls and mythological scenes and maritime scenes surround the middle field.

The Judgement of Solomon dominates the rectangular centre which is surrounded by a zigzag border – a quite rare feature in the colchas. In the spaces carved out by the zigzag border with

scrolls the story of Judith and Holofernes is depicted in the corners, mythological scenes, doubleheaded eagles, musicians and men on horseback.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. IS.6–1964 (cat. no. 19)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes and lions, scrolls and

mythological scenes, maritime scenes surround the middle field. The Judgement of Solomon

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301

dominates the rectangular centre which is surrounded by a zigzag border with scrolls – a quite rare feature in the colchas similar to MNT 14443. In the spaces carved out by the zigzag border

the story of Judith and Holofernes is depcited in the corners, mythological scenes, Christological signs, double-headed eagles and musicians.

Colchas with Representation of Zodiac Signs

Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida, Lisbon, Inv. 1363 (cat. no. 20)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with hunting scenes and lions, scrolls,

the signs of the zodiac in form of antique gods and fantastic maritime scenes. Centre solution with an armorial structure depicting the Judgement of Solomon, in the geometrically subdivided field the story of Judith and Holofernes is represented in the four corners, and mythological and biblical scenes in the other segments.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. 616–1886

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with hunting scenes, double-headed eagles, scrolls, the signs of the zodiac in form of antique gods and fantastic maritime scenes.

Centre solution with an armorial structure depicting the justice of Solomon, in the geometrically subdivided field the story of Judith and Holofernes is represented in the four corners, and mythological and biblical scenes in the other segments. An interesting and rare detail represents

the story of the eagle fighting a snake that is liberated by a hunter. Very similar to colcha from the Casa-Museu Medeiros e Almeida.

Colchas with Representations of the Four Continents around Centre

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. 284–1876

Light-yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, double-

headed eagles, scrolls and mythological scenes. Two borders are each dedicated to the stories of Arion and Hercules. Centre solution with an armorial structure depicting the justice of Solomon

seated on top of stairs. In the geometrically subdivided field there are personifications of the four continents in the four corners. In addition, the story of the eagle fighting a snake, liberated

by an archer in four segments. Mythological scenes and biblical symbols. This colcha is one of the masterworks of Bengal embroideries for the export market. However, the faint colour contrast renders it almost impossible to photograph.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2237 (cat. no. 21)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, double-headed eagles, scrolls and mythological scenes. Two borders are each dedicated to the stories of Arion and Hercules. Centre solution with an armorial structure depicting the justice of Solomon sitting on a chair. In the geometrically subdivided field there are personifications of the four continents in

the four corners. In addition, musicians, sphinxes, sun and moon, the pelican, the Virgin Mary, a winged snake and animals.

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Phaeton Colchas – c. first half seventeenth century

Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Sintra, Inv. 5730 (cat. no. 22)

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, double-headed ea-

gles, scrolls and mythological scenes. Two borders are each dedicated to the stories of Arion and Hercules. The middle field depicts the story of Phaeton in nine sections.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4588 tec (cat. no. 23)

Fragment, upper third is missing. Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders, one

with hunting scenes and lions. Two borders are each dedicated to the stories of Arion and Hercules. The middle field depicts the story of Phaeton in nine sections. Next to them are animals fighting and feeding, palm trees..

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, Inv. 10765

Yellow embroidery on white foundation. Three borders, one with hunting scenes. Two borders are each dedicated to the stories of Arion and Hercules. The middle field depicts the story of

Phaeton in nine sections. In addition there is a pelican, feeding animals and double-headed eagles.

Unique Colchas – c. first half seventeenth century

Hispanic Society of America/New York, Inv. MMA.L.2011.46.26

Fragment. Surrounding the middle field: three borders (cut on two sides) with hunting scenes,

vine scrolls and mythological scenes and maritime scenes. Circular centre with extensions shows the coat of arms of an ecclesiastical dignitary. It is surrounded by the story of Phaeton.

Parts of the story of Judith occupy the corner segments. Below, two scenes with Hercules, the self-sacrificing pelican and a scene with a pilgrim being killed. At the sides, men on horseback

and with scenes of David and Goliath inserted. Very unusual iconography and the coat of arms suggest a special commission.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4575 (cat. no. 24)

Polychrome embroidery on green foundation. One border with hunting scenes around a generous middle field depicting two large battle scenes: a frontal attack and the siege of a fortress.

Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, Boston, Inv. T20e4 (cat. no. 25)

Colcha with blue silk foundation and yellow embroidery. Three borders with hunting scenes

and pelicans, scrolls mythological scenes and fortresses. Centre with triumphal arch and kings’ portraits.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4574 (cat. no. 26)

Yellow and blue embroidery on white foundation. Four borders with hunting scenes, antique and biblical battles and genre scenes (some mythological). Centre with coat of arms of a cardinal (unidentified), surrounded by more battle scenes in the corners, small mythological scenes, feeding animals and the Virgin Mary. Forms an ensemble with colcha MNAA 3750.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3750 (cat. no. 27)

Yellow and blue embroidery on white foundation. Fragment, only a quarter of this colcha survives. Four borders with hunting scenes and scenes from the Old Testament. Middle field with

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

303

the coat of arms of the cardinal, Judith and Holofernes in the corners, soldiers and Ulysses returning home. Yellow embroidery with blue contours. Forms an ensemble with colcha MNAA 4574.

Other embroidered textiles from this Bengal group, c. second half sixteenth/first half seventeenth century

Embroidery Fragments

Musée Guimet, Paris, Inv. AEDTA 1688, AEDTA 2855 and AEDTA 1275; Cooper Hewitt Museum,

New York, Inv. 1975-79–28 and 1971–50-74; Musée des Tissus, Lyon, Inv. 27407; Calico Museum, Ahmedabad; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon; Victoria & Albert Museun, Inv. T 6–1936.

Ecclesiastic Vestments

Museu do Oriente, Inv. FO 1137 (Alb); Gotha (Tunic) published in Sarre/Martin, vol. III, Plate 211, Cat. no. 2430 ; Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon (Alb).

Pieces of other Costume or fragments of them

Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York , Inv. 1951–41–1; Metropolitan Museum, New York, Inv. 23.203.1 and three fragments; Musée Cinquantenaire, Brussels, Inv. 1976.2963; Victoria & Albert Mu-

seum, London, Inv. T1016-77; Two capes at Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon; Ambras Castle/ Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Inv. PA 511. One on velvet in Japan published by Yoshida,

2009–10, pp.1–16; and a jinbaori (battle jacket) survives in the collection of Matsuzakaya Co.Ltd

in Nagoya.

Hangings or curtains

Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, Inv. 1951–22-1 and Inv. 1947-50-1, Inv. 1958–105–2 and 1960-

152-3 A and C; Museo Nazionale del Bargello Coll. Carrand Inv. 2255; Ethnographical Museum, Helsinki, Inv. H 589 (reworked into a hanging); Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome,

2 curtains; Collezione Rocchi Rome, Bunt, 1931, 160–161; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. IS 157–1935.

Tissues

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. Circ. 195–1923; Private collection, Lisbon. Red Colchas – c. mid sixteenth century to mid seventeenth century First Phase – second half sixteenth century Royal Collection Sweden, Inv. No. 78

White cotton foundation with light-yellow silk embroidery. Densely stitched in tambour stitch. One large border with complex guard stripes and decorated exclusively with geometric motifs.

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Middle field with circular rosette and inserted rectangles along the vertical axis, similar to other

two pieces of the group. First mentioned in the royal inventory of 1627 as “Coverlet of linen with Indian Work”. GEIJER, 1951, pp.73,74, 119, no. 120.

Second Phase – second half sixteenth century

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv.3413 (cat. no. 28)

Red and blue embroidery on white foundation. Fragment, about one third was cut. Very dense

embroidery. Three borders with courtly figurative scenes and geometric patterns surround a middle field. The central rosette features a peacock in the middle that is surrounded by courtly

scenes and geometric designs. Above the circular centre a rectangle showing elephants and geometric rosettes.

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, Inv. R 3504

Mainly red and blue embroidery on white foundation. Three borders with elaborate geometric patterns surround a middle field. The central rosette features a peacock in the middle sur-

rounded by courtly scenes and geometric designs. Above the circular centre a rectangle showing elephants and geometric rosettes. This colcha shows fewer figures and is slightly more dynamic than MNAA 3413. Crill, 2004, 87–91.

Third Phase – first half sixteenth century

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 112 (cat. no. 29)

Red and yellow embroidery on white foundation. One wide border with hunting scenes surrounds the middle field. The circular centre is dominated by a pelican feeding his brood.and surrounded by a dragon border, featuring rectangles with peacocks above and below the circular field. Organization similar to MNAA 3413 and Hardwick Hall.

Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, Inv.1958–105–1A

Rectangular fragment. Red and yellow embroidery on white foundation. The circular centre is

dominated by a pelican feeding his brood and surrounded by a dragon border, featuring rectangles with mermaids above and below the circular field.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. T 438–1882 (cat. no. 30)

Predominantly red embroidery on white foundation. Surrounding the middle field: one wide

and thinner borders with hunting scenes and lions. The circular centre features the coat of arms of a noble Portuguese family and is surrounded by dragons and scolls, double-headed eagles. Above and below, rectangles with ships.

Gujarat

Colcha group with Phoenix/Pineapple Motif – c. first half seventeenth century Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2136 (cat. no. 31)

Red foundation, polychrome embroidery. One wide floral border surrounds the middle field, decorated by a circular centre showing a phoenix and floral scrolls. Densely quilted background.

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Inv. 1948.159

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

305

White foundation with polychrome embroidery. Densely quilted background. Featuring more

European details. One wide floral border surrounds the middle field, decorated by doubleheaded eagles, men on horseback and a pelican. Similar to MNAA 2136

Private collection, Porto

White foundation, polychrome embroidery. One wide floral border surrounds the middle field, decorated by a circular centre showing a phoenix and floral scrolls. Includes pineapple motif. Densely quilted background.

Museu Nacional Soares os Reis, Porto, Inv. 1601

White foundation, polychrome embroidery. One wide, geometrically organised by smaller and larger circles with floral designs birds and a pelican in the absolute centre. Densely quilted background.

Museu Municipal de Setúbal, Setúbal, Inv. 2598 (cat. no. 32)

White foundation, polychrome embroidery. One wide border including the signs of the zodiac and floral designs surrounds the middle field dominated by a large sun with phoenixes above and below. Densely quilted background.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 635 tec

Polychrome embroidery on white foundation. Surrounding the middle field: one large border with rectangular compartments with flowers and animals. The phoenix in the central circles surrounded by vegetal structures featuring pineapples and some kinds of artichokes. See: http://

www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=257370 (consulted 10.9.2012)

Figurative, floral colchas – c. first half seventeenth century Birds

Museu da Guerra Junqueiro, Porto, Inv. 612

Blue foundation with polychrome embroidery. One wide framed border with dense floral design

surrounding the middle field dominated by a central pelican surrounded by floral vine scrolls. Brussels 1991, No. 105.

Private collection, Porto

White foundation with polychrome embroidery. One wide framed border with dense floral design surrounding the middle field dominated by a central double-headed eagle surrounded by dense floral vine scrolls.

Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Madrid, Inv. 2012 (cat. no. 33)

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed border with dense floral design, animals, double-headed eagles and pelicans dominated by a central pelican in a circle surrounded by floral vine scrolls, double-headed eagles and peacocks.

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Five Senses

Appendix

Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Collezione Carrand, Inv. 2258 (cat. no. 34)

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounds the middle field: one wide framed border with hunting scenes and double-headed eagles dominated by a lady, sense of touch? in a circle surrounded by floral vine scrolls, double-headed eagles and peacocks.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Inv. 1988-7–4 (cat. no. 35)

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed bor-

der with dense floral design, animals and four ladies in the corners dominated by a lady in a circle surrounded by floral vine scrolls and fantastic birds. The five ladies represent the five senses.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 113 tec.

Red foundation with polychrome embroidery. Surrounds the middle field: one broad framed border with floral desings and four ladies (four of the five senses). The circular centre shows a

couple and is flanked above and below by peacocks and eagles. It is similar in style to the other colchas with the five senses; however, doubts remain about its exact origin. See: http://www.

matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=247176 (consulted 10.9.2012)

Casa Museu Castro Guimaraes, Cascais, Inv. 1904

Pink foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed border with dense floral design, animals and four ladies in the corners dominated by a lady in a circle surrounded by floral vine scrolls and fantastic birds, peacocks and double-headed eagles. The five ladies represent the five senses.

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Inv. 1982.18

Blue (?) foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed border with dense floral design, animals and four ladies in the corners dominated by a lady in a circle surrounded by somewhat stiffer floral vine scrolls and fantastic birds and lions. The five ladies represent the five senses.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 58.52

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed border with dense floral design, animals and four ladies in the corners dominated by a lady in a circle surrounded by floral vine scrolls and fantastic birds. The five ladies represent the five senses.

Unique Figural Compositions – c. First half seventeenth century

Museu do Caramulo da Fundação Abel de Lacerda, Serra do Caramulo, Inv. FAL 461, donation José Silveira Machado (cat. no. 36)

White and pink foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide border with dense floral designs dominated by the illustration of the discovery of Mars and Venus in a circle and surrounded by floral designs. Unique example.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 50.3224 (cat. no. 37)

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed bor-

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307

der with dense floral design, hunting scenes and animals dominated by the depiction of two battle scenes – a unique feature.

Floral colchas – c. from seventeenth century to early eighteenth century

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 3704 (cat. no. 38)

Polychrome embroidery on white foundation. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed

border with delicate vine scrolls secured by hybrid corner figures. The centre is marked by a crown above two eagles with a heart shaped form. They are surrounded by delicate floral scrolls.

Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14407 (cat. no. 39)

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. One wide framed border with floral designs secured by ribbons in the corners. The middle field is filled with geometrically arranged, lavish flower designs.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 837

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed wide border with elaborate floral design geometrically structured and dominated by a flower basket surrounded by lavish floral designs. See: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=261269 (consulted 10.9.2012)

Private collection, Porto

White foundation, yellow embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed wide border with elaborate floral design geometrically structured and dominated by four central flowers sur-

rounded by lavish floral designs.

Private collection, Porto

Red foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed wide border with elaborate very lavish floral and leaf design dominated by a vegetal structure with ribbons and surrounded by lavish floral and vegetal designs.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 1593

Red foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed wide border

with elaborate floral design and ribbons in the corners dominated by flowers surrounded by lavish floral designs. Slightly more delicate than MNT 14407.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 4594 tec

Violet or blue (?) foundation with polychrome floral embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one large border with lavish flowers. Similarly lavish flowerbuds decorate the centre and create

a pattern that repeats along the axis. See also: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/ Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=256568 (consulted 10.9.2012)

Private collection, London, courtesy Francesca Galloway

Red foundation with polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed

wide border with elaborate floral design dominated by a cartouche including a still life with a pomegrenade,surrounded by lavish floral designs.

Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Sintra, Inv. PNS 5796

Greenish foundation with polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one large com-

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posite border with flowers secured by ribbons organized by lavish flowers and ribbons repeat-

ing along the axis around the centre formed by large flower buds. See: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=1005501 (consulted 10.9.2012)

Casa Museu da Guerra Junqueiro, Porto, Inv. 613

Blue foundation polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed wide border

with elaborate floral design dominated by a floral wreath in surrounded by lavish floral designs.

Fundação da Casa de Bragança, Vila Viçosa, Inv. 2560

Pink foundation polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one framed wide border

with elaborate floral design dominated by a floral wreath in a bowl surrounded by lavish floral and geometrized vegetal designs.

St. Jacobs Church, Stockolm

Red silk foundation with embroidery in different colours. One border surrounds the miffle field featuring floral repeat patterns. Presented to the church in 1864 by an unknown donor. GEIJER, 1951, pp.76, 121, no. 125.

Golden Colchas, identified as Alcatifas de Ouro – c. from later sixteenth to eighteenth century

Pieces considered late sixteenth or seventeenth century similar in stlye and organisation with pointed oval as centre (roughly in chronological order)

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 2232 (cat. no. 41)

Red foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders, each with

different, quite stiff vegetal designs. The centre is a pointed golden oval with geometrised flowers surrounded by floral vine scrolls. Lobed and pointed golden forms mark the corners.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Inv. IM 2-1912 (cat. no. 42)

Fragment, borders cut. White foundation, polychrome embroidery. The centre is a pointed oval

with geometrised flowers surrounded by floral vine scrolls. Lobed and pointed forms mark the corners.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Inv. M.66.42.3

Fragment(?) with quilted white cotton foundation and polychrome and metallic embroidery.

Surrounding the middle field: one thin border with fine floral scrolls. Pointed oval with rosette forms the centre, spandrels in each corner. Individual flowers fill the rest of the field. Very Mughal in stlye.

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Inv. 1948.152/1

Quilted white foundation with polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders, two with rows of flowers, one with large blossoming flowers. Centre is formed by a pointed golden oval including flowers and two pendants. Corners marked by pointed circle segments in gold. Fantastic flowers fill the rest of the field.

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Inv. 1948.152/2

Quilted white foundation with polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three bor-

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

309

ders, two with rows of flowers, one with large flowerbuds. Centre is formed by a pointed oval

including flowers and two pendants. Corners marked by pointed circle segment. Flowers somewhat resembling carnations fill the rest of the field.

Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Sintra, Inv. PNS 5797

White foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders, two

with rows of flowers, one with large flowerbuds in a leaf scroll. The centre is a pointed oval with

geometrised flowers surrounded by floral vine scrolls. Lobed and pointed forms mark the corners. Described as „Persian“ in an inventory from 1939. See: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus. pt/MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=1005499 (consulted 10.9. 2012)

Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Sintra, Inv. PNS 5756

Golden foundation (embroidery partly missing). One border with geometrised floral designs surrounds the middle field (a second border was probably cut). An ovaloid centre is surrounded by vertically set lined of opposing geometrised flowers.

Loretoschatz, Stadtmuseum Klausen (cat. no. 44)

Altar frontal, probably cut down and reassembled colcha. Quilted white foundation with polychrome and metallic embroidery. One border with a row of flowers and undulating scroll with flowerbuds. A pointed oval with rosette (including three flowers and a bird) with two pendants forms the centre, which is surrounded by carnations. (cat. no. 44)

Paço dos Duques de Bragança, Guimarães, Inv. P.D. 554

White foundation, middle field all over with silver threads, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders, two with rows of flowers, one with large flowerbuds in a leaf

scroll. The centre is a pointed oval with geometrized flowers surrounded by floral vine scrolls. Lobed and pointed forms again with flowers mark the corners.

Fundação das Casa de Fronteira e Alorna, Palácio da Fronteira, Lisbon

Golden foundation (embroidered), polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three

borders, with different, quite stiff vegetal designs (two rowns of individual flowers and one with circular flower buds and framed by leaf scrolls).. The centre is a pointed oval with geometrised

flowers surrounded by floral vine scrolls (stylised vinescrolls with grapes). Lobed and pointed forms mark the corners.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 66.862

White quilted foundation, polychrome embroidery. Three borders, with different, quite stiff vegetal designs (less detailed than usual) surround the middle field. The centre is a golden circle

with geometrised flowers surrounded by floral vine scrolls. Quarter circular golden segments mark the corners.

Later colcha with pointed oval in centre, later seventeenth or eighteenth century Metropolitan Museum, Islamic Department, New York, Inv. 05.25.2

White(?) foundation with polychrome and metallic embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders, two with floral scrolls, one with flowers in cartouches. Pointed oval including a rosette in the centre. Lobed corner segments and dense floral vine scrolls.

310

Appendix

Pieces considered second half seventeenth and eighteenth century, middle field with all over design. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon, Inv. 1926 (cat. no. 45)

Golden embroidered foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders of different sizes feature very stylised vegetal designs (two with rows of flowers, one

with floral structures with leaf scrolls). A regular repeat pattern with very stylised floral forms in pairs covers the middle field.

Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul , Inv. 31/11

Golden embroidered foundation with polychrome embroidery. Size is a rectangle longer and

slimmer than ususal, suggesting the Ottoman marked preferred different sizes. Surrounding the middle field: three borders with varying floral designs (two with smaller floral scrolls, one with

large blossoming flowers and leaf scrolls. Stylised carnations in rhomboid leaf structure form

a repeat pattern in the middle field. Design recalls patterns of woven Ottoman textiles. Rogers, 1987, No. 108, 226.

Uncertain piece, eighteenth century

Museum at FIT, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, Inv. 69.159.5

Fragment(?) with golden foundation and floral designs ordered into a geometric framework. All over repeat pattern.

Unique example, later seventeenth century

Musée Guimet, Paris, Inv. AEDTA 3407 (cat. no.43)

Golden foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: three borders of dif-

ferent sizes, with fairly stiff floral and bird designs. The centre is dominated by a large floral

structure placed in rich vine scrolls featuring five ladies in the blossoms. They represent the five senses.

Colchas with no metal but similar in style and technique – seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Inv. FO-1089 (cat. no. 46)

White foundation with polychrome embroidery. One large border with fantastic lavish flowers surrounds the middle field. Central rosette, above and below bushes with different fantastic flowers growing out of vases. One of the most splendid pieces of this group.

The Hispanic Society of America, New York, Inv. H 972

White foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: one wide framed border with prominent flowers growing out of small hills. The circular centre features very stylised

floral designs. Similar quarter circular forms mark the corners. Large floral structures grow out of the central circle.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Inv. 1978.53 (cat. no. 47)

Blue foundation, polychrome embroidery. Surrounding the middle field: two borders, each with

different, very stylised floral and animal designs.. The circular centre features a peacock sur-

List of Colchas Considered for this Study

311

rounded by birds. Circular forms mark the corners. A floral repeat pattern fills the rest of the middle field.

Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Sintra, Inv. PNS 5757

White foundation with polychrome embroidery (large parts of the borders were cut). Remains

of floral borders at left and right of the middle field. The circular centre features peacocks surrounded by exotic birds. The corner segments show flowers and opposing birds. The rest of the field is filled by regularly coiled vine scrolls. See: http://www.matriznet.ipmuseus.pt/ MatrizNet/Objectos/ObjectosConsultar.aspx?IdReg=1006324 (consulted 10.9.2012)

Museu Nacional do Traje, Lisbon, Inv. 14408 (cat. no. 40)

The background is completely covered with red embroidery. Dense vine scrolls. The textile repeats symmetrically along the horizontal and vertical axis.

Index of places and persons

The following terms occur so frequently in the text they will not be listed separately at this point: India, Bengal, Gujarat, Portugal .

Abundance, Personification 145, 153, 165, 167,

Bragança, Dynasty 20, 95, 140, 179, 209, 219,

Agra 24, 34, 35–38, 69, 76,

Burma 41, 45, 48, 49

170

Adina Mosque, Pandua 81, 83, 146, Albuquerque, Afonso de 29, 56,

Ahmedabad 35, 36–38, 40, 42, 43, 64, 85, 97, 98, 100, 101, 250, 251, 253, 254, 257, 259, 261, 262, 264, 266, 268, 269, 271–273, 275,

Akbar, Mughal Emperor 41, 45, 48, 91, 211, 261,

Actaeon, mythological figure 143, 145, 165, 172, 173, 176, 178, 186, 187, 194, 202, 208, 212

Albrecht, Archduke 51, 64, 66, 106, 219 Alcácer Quibir 58, 249

Alexander the Great 14, 213, 233–235

Amaral de Vasconcelos, Jorge de 52–54

Ambras Castle 48, 51, 65, 66, 67, 133, 136, 153 Apollo, God 196, 261

Aquaviva, Rudolfo 45, 91

Arion, mythological figure 85, 86, 87, 92, 94, 179, 181, 197, 200–202, 207-211

Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor 69, 104, 108 Austria 56, 64, 149,

Aviz, dynasty 136, 219, 221, 222, 225, 254 Barros, João de 30, 234, 235 Bassein 25, 41, 53, 69

Bernier, François 33, 43, 69

Bess (Elizabeth) of Hardwick 33, 243 Bombay 21, 41, 60, 70, 110

225, 227, 247,

Brito, Bernardo de 217, 221,

Cambay 13, 15, 24, 25, 30, 36, 37, 40, 42, 64, 75, 97, 106, 107

Camões, Luís de 87, 187, 235, 272

Carletti, Francesco 20, 31, 52, 74, 104, 107, 160, 212,

Castelo Branco 21, 22, 56, 63, 78

Catarina, Queen of Portugal 44, 57, 60, 64 Central Asia 12, 36, 37, 41

Ceres, Goddess 201, 208, 211 Ceylon 12, 79, 94, 239, 242

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 64, 94, 149, 254

Chaul 25, 27, 57, 58, 62–64, 97, 101 Chittagong 41, 44, 46, 47

China 25, 32, 33, 37, 40, 41, 48, 52, 53, 55, 59, 70, 71, 74, 98, 104, 107, 109,

Christ 92, 96, 100, 135, 136, 139, 151, 153, 174,

175–177, 179, 184, 190, 194, 202, 217, 222, 232, 246, 247, 253, 264,

Coromandel Coast 22, 40

Correia, Gaspar 29, 234, 235

Cupid, God 151, 178, 179, 188, 191, 202, 208, 219, 220

Daman 41, 42,

David, King of Israel 151, 154, 200, 231-234, 238

314

Index of places and persons

Deccan 12, 104, 107, 108

Delhi 89, 100, 102, 154, 260,

Diana, Goddess 143–145, 152, 165, 173, 186, 187, 201, 212

Diu 27, 42, 54, 59-61, 63, 64, 98, 214

Double-headed eagle, dynastic symbol 95, 148, 149, 174, 178, 182, 186, 191, 196, 202, 207209, 211, 212, 249, 254, 255, 257, 261, 264

Emanuel I, King of Portugal 57, 135, 136, 154,

Holofernes, King of Babylonia 85, 86, 151–154, 156, 164, 173, 177, 182, 196, 236

Homer 186, 196

Hormuz 33, 37, 53, 262,

Hugli 15, 20, 36, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 75, 76, 80, 81, 90, 110, 130, 133, 137, 140, 145, 146,

148, 149, 155, 157, 160, 164, 165, 167, 170, 174, 182, 185, 188, 191, 197, 202, 209, 212, 213, 215, 228, 240, 245, 247

221, 235

Humayun, Mughal Emperor 41, 195

212, 213, 234, 240, 249, 253

Isabella Clara Eugenia, Archduchess 65, 66,

Estado da Índia 11, 13, 17–19, 24, 30, 37, 40, 42, 44, 47, 56, 59, 72, 97, 109, 110, 149, 160,

Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 20, 31, 50-52, 255

Ferdinand II of Tyrol, Archduke 65–67, 72, 133, 136

Florence 20, 31, 51–53, 67, 72, 255

Fortuna, Personification 94, 150, 169, 178, 179, 184, 191, 202

Francesco de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 48, 50, 51, 52, 58

Ganga, Goddess 150, 178

Ganges 76, 178, 180, 232, 245

Goa 14, 19, 20, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 43, 44, 45, 50, 52, 53, 54, 59, 67, 69, 74, 91, 106, 107, 110, 139, 160, 176, 180, 181, 209, 212, 218, 228, 273,

Habsburg, Dynasty 12, 19, 51, 56, 57, 64–68,

72, 92–95, 105, 140, 149, 165, 174, 179, 181, 182, 207–209, 212, 218–221, 226, 227, 249, 254, 257

Helios, God 205, 210

Hercules, mythological figure 85–88, 91, 92, 94,

143, 145, 150, 151, 154, 170, 176–179, 181, 184, 188, 191, 194, 196, 197, 201, 202, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 216, 232

Hero, mythological figure 150, 152, 165, 178, 180, 184, 188, 191, 202, 208

Iran 28, 37, 41, 53, 75, 78, 89, 91, 99, 100, 106, 109, 139, 211, 245, 250, 262, 219,

Istanbul 100, 101, 104, 107, 268, 269 Italy 52, 58, 99, 105, 271

Jahangir, Mughal Emperor 14, 20, 35, 36, 48, 76, 99, 154, 163, 195, 262,

Japan 13, 17, 27, 68, 111, 135, 162, 167

João II, King of Portugal 135, 221, 222, 225

Judith, biblical figure 85, 86, 92, 151–156, 163, 173, 177, 181, 182, 186, 187, 191, 195, 196, 199, 236, 239

Juno, Goddess 144, 173, 261,

Jupiter, God 85, 87, 95, 151, 196, 197, 201, 206–209,211, 212, 261

Klausen 68, 103, 105, 106, 268, 271 Krishna, God 90, 179

Lavanha, João Baptista 92, 93, 149, 193, 194, 196, 218, 219, 221, 227

Leander, mythological figure 150, 165, 178, 179, 184, 188, 191, 202, 208

Lisbon 12, 14, 19, 20, 25, 30, 33, 48, 52–55, 60,

61, 63, 69, 70, 72, 77, 92, 93, 94, 97, 107, 145, 148, 149, 155, 157, 160, 163, 174, 181, 185, 191, 193, 195, 197, 200, 209, 212, 215, 218–220, 225–228, 240, 245, 249, 250, 251, 253, 262, 265, 266, 268, 272, 273

Linschoten, Jan Huyghen 30, 31, 46, 69, 76, 107, 209, 232

Livy 232, 234

London 17, 33, 38, 103, 188, 247, 269 Louis XIII, King of France 22, 264

Lucretia, mythological figure 152, 170, 231, 236 Macao 52, 75

Madrid 30, 51, 64, 65, 68, 193, 219, 253, 254, 257

Manrique, Sebastian 33, 45, 232 Mars, God 94, 196, 259, 260

Medici, Dynasty 12, 50–55, 58, 59, 67, 72, 255

Minerva /Pallas Athene, Goddess 144, 173, 187, 261

Morocco 25, 58

Mughal Empire/Dynasty 16, 18, 20, 30, 33,

34–36, 41–46, 48, 69, 75, 77–79, 89, 91, 92,

97–102, 104, 105, 110, 139, 140, 154, 160, 163, 165, 178, 195, 211, 213, 247, 250, 251, 259–261, 264, 268, 273

Naga, Gods 137, 139, 142, 169, 173, 178 Nagoya 68, 165

Neptune, God 94, 150, 201, 207, 261

Netherlands 19, 20, 23, 26, 60, 66, 209, 218, 219, 222, 226, 227,

Omphale, mythological figure 143, 201, 208

Orpheus, mythological figure 92, 94, 178, 179, 181, 200, 212, 232, 234

Ottoman Empire 27, 41, 65

Ovid 81, 87, 92, 93, 143, 144, 150, 170, 187, 195, 196, 200, 205, 206, 208, 260

Sintra 68, 87, 202, 205, 210,

Paris, mythological figure 144, 145, 165, 173, 194, 195, 202, 208, 215, 232, 235

Patna 36, 37, 46

Pelican, Symbol for Christ 82, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98, 130, 135, 136, 139, 140, 142, 148, 149, 153, 165, 174, 175, 179, 184, 185, 194, 196, 197, 202, 206, 208, 211, 215, 222, 225, 246, 247, 250, 254

Penelope, mythological figure 152, 186, 188, 191, 194, 202, 208, 231, 236

Index of places and persons

315

Phaeton, mythological figure 68, 82, 84–87, 92, 93, 95, 197, 202, 205–211

Philip II, King of Spain 65, 66, 70, 92–94, 133, 149, 154, 181, 194, 195, 200, 218, 211, 222, 227, 254

Philip III, King of Spain 59, 94, 149, 181, 193, 194, 218, 220, 221, 227

Phoenix, Symbol for Christ 96, 100, 102, 178, 179, 188, 191, 250, 251, 253, 254

Plutarch 232–235 Porto 59, 157

Pyrard de Laval, François 32, 42, 47, 107, 176, 180

Pyramus, mythological figure 92, 144, 145, 187, 191, 194, 195, 202, 208

Ripa, Cesare 86, 144, 150, 200 Roe, Sir Thomas 14, 35

Rome 29, 52, 72, 87, 234, 235

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor 64, 66, 72, 106 Samson, biblical figure 232, 233, 238, 239,

Safavid, Dynasty 26, 33, 53, 75, 78, 79, 92, 99, 101, 106, 177, 179, 211, 254, 259, 262, 268

Sassetti, Filippo 14, 48,51–54, 59, 67, 81, 93, 107, 212

Satgaon 15, 28, 29, 33, 41, 44–48, 75, 80, 212, 245

Sebastião, King of Portugal 58, 221, 236

Shah Jahan, Mughal Emperor 18, 33, 46, 48, 49, 99, 100, 102, 154

Sheba, Queen of 238, 239

Simurgh, mythological figure 91, 100, 211, 245 Sindh 12, 53, 54, 64, 98

Solomon, King of Israel 35, 72, 82, 83, 84–88, 90, 92, 93, 95, 149, 150–157, 159, 162, 170, 173, 174–177, 179–182, 185–188, 190, 191,

193–197, 199–202, 207–209, 211, 212, 217–219, 223, 225, 228, 231, 233, 238, 239, 246, 251

Spain 19, 22, 51, 55, 64, 65, 66, 70, 92–95, 105, 110, 133, 149, 154, 174, 181, 193, 196, 218,

316

Index of places and persons

219, 222, 223, 227, 239, 240, 249, 250, 253, 254

Sphinx, mythological figure 177, 191, 199 Surat 14, 23, 34–38, 43, 97 Taj Mahal 18, 247, 260

Tokugawa, Dynasty 68, 162, 165, 167

Topkapi Saray 68, 100, 104, 105, 107, 269

Thisbe, mythological figure 92, 144, 145, 187, 191, 194, 195, 202, 208

Ulysses, mythological figure 153, 178, 186, 187, 188, 191, 194, 202, 208, 231

Varthema, Ludovico 28, 29

Venus, Goddess 144, 173, 196, 201, 259, 260 Vienna 65, 67, 81, 130, 133, 146, 157

Virgin Mary 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, 174, 175, 176, 177, 182, 190, 194, 196, 197, 222, 231, 235, 236

Vishnu, God 75, 141, 179