Handcraft: An Embroidered Snakes and Ladders Board

by Anne Harwood

for the Scholars of St. Thomas, June 2008

Embroidery has been used to embellish textiles in India for thousands of years. In The Techniques of Indian Embroidery, Anne Morrell tells us

…examples of early textiles only survive in a few parts of the world where the right conditions have existed to ensure preservation. However, some pieces produced in India have been found in other countries, indicating the scope of early textile trading throughout the Far and Middle East.[1]

  The first urban communities of the Indian northwest (i.e. the River Indus plain and the Thar Desert) were established roughly 2,000 years BCE.  It is in these areas, particularly at the archeological site of Mohenjo-daro, that the world’s earliest textiles were found.

There, woven and madder-dyed cotton fragments wrapped around a silver pot had been preserved…The use of madder dye made fast with a mordant and the presence of dye vats at the site testify to an advanced understanding of the processes of colour fixing on cloth, and a relief-carved stone sculpture from the dig clearly depicts figures draped with patterned cloth.[2]

Among the finds is the bust of a man, possibly a priest, which is wearing a shawl. A raised motif on the shawl may suggest embroidery was used to embellish the garment.[3] Also found at Mohenjo-daro are thin bronze needles.

The Kama Sutra, written in the 4^th century CE, lists “needlework” as one of the sixty-four arts that men and women should aspire to learn if they wish to consider themselves accomplished.[4]

In the 10^th century, embroidered slippers were exported from the area now known as Pakistan to Baghdad.[5] Marco Polo, visiting India on his way back from China wrote of embroideries “depicting birds and beasts in gold and silver thread sewn very subtly on leather.”[6]

Sadly, few examples of Indian embroidery prior to the Mughal era survive. In the Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad, a cotton panel from 15^th or 16^th century Gujarat is preserved.[7] It is embroidered with grass and silk. Pressure points on the cloth indicate areas where glass was probably added to the design, much like the shisha embroidery that is still prevalent today in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Modern shisha embroiderers, however, are more apt to used tiny mirrors or sequins than glass.

According to Morrell, Indian embroidery differs from European embroidery of the same time period in a few ways. “Many stitches are worked with the back, or reverse, of the work facing the embroiderer, as the back is often important, too, and the embroidery therefore becomes reversible. …The embroidery often arises from—or imitates—a woven piece and uses the same threads.”[8] In addition, some regional techniques involved using only one stitch, such as the running stitch in kantha work. Kantha embroidery is especially prevalent in Bengal, and is used mainly to embellish saris, worn by women.

In Rajasthan, where Rajpal lives, the embroidery is notable for being some of the brightest and most colourful. In fact, the women wearing garments embroidered with these elaborate designs have been called “the flowers of the desert.”[9]

Figure 1. Showing traditional Rajasthani carrying rings, worn on the head to facilitate carrying jugs of water. The smallest is typical of Rajasthani shisha embroidery.

 Another way in which embroidery in India differed from that in Europe was that, in the West, embroidery was almost solely a female occupation. Certainly, Indian women practiced embroidery, particularly in rural communities, where the skill was passed from mother to daughter. However, there also existed professional embroiderers,[10] and these were usually male. Francois Bernier, a French physician traveling in India in the mid-17^th century, wrote, “In one hall, embroiderers are busily employed, superintended by a master…The artisans repair every morning to their respective Kar-kayanas (i.e. workshops), where they remain employed the whole day; and in the evening return to their homes.” Morrell also states “Embroidery reached a professional status in the north and north-west, resulting in some exquisite workmanship.”[11]

Rajpal learned to embroider from his mother, whose father was a professional embroiderer, and taught it to her. He does not have a lot of spare time in which to practice this hobby, but has put what little time he has to good use by creating a moksha-patmu (Snakes and Ladders) game board for the enlightenment of his children.

Techniques and Materials

The most common background fabric is woven cotton. Cotton has been cultivated in India for thousands of years, and is both inexpensive and readily available. Silk is an alternative, but much more costly. Therefore it is not a suitable choice for a game board, which may see a lot of wear and tear.

“Most embroideries are worked in the hand, with the worker sitting in a comfortable position on the floor,” Morrell observes, though she also notes the use of frames when a tight fabric is necessary to avoid puckering the cloth.[12] Not being a professional, Rajpal would not to go the expense of having a large frame, but is likely to have a small one from his mother.

Embroidery threads can be of cotton, silk, wool, silver and gold, and often, these threads are sometimes obtained by extracting them from an existing woven fabric.[13] If scissors are not ready to hand, a piece of glass is used to cut the threads.[14] Needles are made of metal.

Traditional patterns and images are often seen in the textile arts, allowing the historian to get a glimpse of how embroideries were designed four hundred years ago. Morrell tells us, “The style is similar to that used in miniature paintings.”[15] Happily, there is a wealth of miniature paintings from the northern Mughal courts on which one can base a design. There are a number of ways to apply a design to the fabric: sometimes, it is taken from memory, or by looking at another piece of work. One can also trace the pattern onto the cloth using coal-dust. Often, the artist follows the outline of a block printed design.[16]

Chain stitch was probably introduced to northern India from China. Although the stitch is rarely found in Chinese embroidery today, examples of it have been found in ancient tombs.[17]  The stitches most commonly found in Rajasthani embroidered works are reverse chain, open chain, double chain, couching and Romanian stitch.[18]

The Moksha-Patmu Board