Oriental Rugs Dictionary
Indian Embroidery
Indian embroidery encompasses a wide range of decorative stitching techniques used throughout India across many historical periods. These textiles are known for their rich colors, intricate patterns, and regional diversity, with styles varying widely between different areas of the country. Indian embroidery has been used for garments, furnishings, and ceremonial textiles and represents an important part of India’s textile heritage. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Gujarat, in western India, supplied embroideries of the highest quality to the Mughal court; these textiles became valued commodities in Europe as soon as sea trade with that region was established. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to enter this market, but most surviving Gujarati embroideries relate to trade with England, which increased in the early seventeenth century. Later with the expansion of the British empire Indian embroideries of various types were exported to many Southeast Asia destinations for religious and cultural matters.
