Crinoline – from European Dresses to Embroidery Motifs in Punjab

Art history/ Historiography

Crinoline – from European Dresses to Embroidery Motifs in Punjab: (first half of twentieth Century)

Kaur, Jasvinder

Issue 09,Winter 2022
Kaur, Jasvinder
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Issue #009, 2022                                                                              ISSN: 2581- 9410 In 1849 when the Sikh kingdom was annexed, the entire Punjab came under the rule of the East India Company. Thereafter, British Raj continued for almost a hundred years bringing stability to the region and exposure to Western culture. The new culture not only had its impact on the dress and lifestyle of the people but also impacted styles of embroidery in Punjab. With increased Westernization and changed living styles, European style elevated furniture found a place in many homes. With the furniture, articles of household linen also came into usage as was the norm in European homes. As the availability of these in the market was limited, most women in Punjab made their own linen and embroidered them with European motifs. New embroidery styles evolved in the region, which were influenced by European styles in colour and design. These were so popular that almost everyone from the cities to the villages did some of these embroideries. Although the time period covered here is before Partition took place but the embroideries mentioned herein are from the region of Punjab, which is now in India. During the nineteenth century in India, Western style articles were made only for Europeans. Many writers have endorsed this view. Among them Forbes J. Watson (1866) ment...
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