Evergreen hand block printing
Using wood blocks to print textiles is an ancient art. The recorded history of Indian/ South Asian block printed textiles can be found as far back as the Indus Valley civilisation (3500 to 1300 BC). Other than India, versions of block printing have historically existed in many cultures including in China, South East Asia and Africa. Within India, different regions are known for vastly different styles of hand block printing.
Sanganeri Print
Arguably the most popular style when one thinks of an image of what Indian block printing is - bright, beautiful, intricate, patterns inspired by gardens, nature and Mughal art and motifs.
Sanganer is a small rural area on the outskirts of Jaipur, in Rajasthan where this style of printing is dominantly practised by artisans of the Chippa community. Depending on how intricate a design is, it can take anywhere from two to over a dozen blocks to create a pattern. Carving the blocks is where the art begins. These are made by artisans who spend years perfecting their craft. Different elements of the block design require different types of wood and in some cases metal chips are inserted into the block to make the finer parts of the pattern stronger and capable of withstanding hours of stamping.
For printing, cloth is laid on and then pinned to tables 25 meter long, and the artisans then mix colours and put them in trays from where they dab the colour onto the block before stamping the cloth. Increasingly azo free colours are being used to create block prints. Some prints are on a white base while others are on solid colour where the base colour may be part of the block print (usually) or pre-dyed onto the cloth.
Dabu Print
This word is derived from the hindi word ‘dabana’ which means ‘to press’. The history of this print can be traced back to the eighth century AD in Central Asia, and is still practised in Gujarat and Rajasthan in India. Unlike Sanganeri style printing, this is a resist printing technique.
The print typically involves using geometric patterns, and heritage motifs like peacock and mango leaf. Once the print has been stamped onto the fabric, the artisans use a paste prepared with gum, calcium hydroxide, pounded wheat chaff and soil from the local riverbed for creating the resist. After applying this paste, the fabric it is placed in the sun for drying and then the cloth is washed till the paste is cleaned, after which the fabric is placed in a dye vat of the desired base colour before final drying. Depending on the complexity of the design and the colours the artisan wants to achieve, the process of dyeing and drying may be repeated several times.
AJRAKH PRINT
The roots of this printing craft can be traced back to the Indus Valley civilization along the Sindhu River. Traditional Ajrakh hand-printing involves anywhere from 16 to 30 steps making it not only a meticulous process but one that takes years to learn and much longer to master. In India, the craft is practised in Ajrakhpur where the climate and water are suitable for it.
Single-sided Ajrakh print is called ekpuri and double-sided is called bipuri. Authentic ajrakh prints are made using natural colours (like indigo and madder), and mordants and each pattern requires various stages of resist-printing and dyeing. Ajrakh prints are typically geometric and mesh style patterns or inspired by nature (like the shape of a leaf), the colours earthy and the patterns a reminder of centuries of textile craft.
BAGRU PRINT
This style of hand-block printing is named after the area (near Jaipur) where it originated. This type of print is characterised by closely placed floral designs such as lotus, rose, marigold, almond-nut and betel leaf. Because traditional Bagru colours are usually derived from gum, jaggery, combination of iron filings and a mixture of alum and madder, Bagru print fabrics are typically found in the colours of black, red, grey, brown, khaki, yellow, green and indigo.
BAGH PRINT
This style of block print comes exclusively from the Bagh region of Madhya Pradesh. Like Ajrakh and Dabu, this technique too uses only natural colours, but it typically only comes in black, red, occasionally an earthy green, on natural / white base fabric, and the final part of the printing process requires the waters of Baghini river, which lends its name to both the region and this print. This river has a high content of iron and lime that act as a fastening and cleansing agent on the printed fabric. Authentic Bagh print cotton is very soft because of the washing involved.
Image By Bsfs - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53286376
CARING FOR YOUR HAND PRINTED TEXTILE
We have created a detailed guide that you can access here.