The Cotton Route

Roller-printed cotton cloth (lining of a man’s black adras khalat); Russia, fourth quarter of the nineteenth century

Russian Textiles:
Printed Cloth for the Bazaars of Central Asia, by Susan Meller (Abrams 2007)When I discovered the book Russian Textiles, I knew I had to own it: my parents own a rug very similar to the green and red design above (except that it is woven rather than printed). It inspires such a strong sense of nostalgia for my childhood. (Fortunately none of my sisters like vintage fabrics as much as I do, so they won’t contest my future claim to it!) I love the Russian way of mixing up prints and patterns – particularly in linens – and this sumptuous book is filled with many examples, such as the robe (scroll further down), made up of polka dots, overblown florals and exotic ikat. These also bring the Ballet Russes strongly to mind.

Peasant girls, Russia 1909; three young woman offer berries to visitors in front of their izba, a traditional wooden house in a rural area near the town of Kirillov. Two of the girls are wearing silk brocaded sarafans, which are reserved for special occasions: the girl in the middle is wearing a printed cotton shirt under her sarafan, and the other girls wear printed head scarves. (Click for larger image.)
(Click for larger image)Between 1860–1960, these exotic printed-cotton textiles were created and manufactured in Russia, and were subsequently exported to Central Asia. The colourful 
and highly detailed fabrics were popular with the people 
of these Central Asian countries: Uzbeks, Tadjiks and Turkmen; Muslims and Jews alike. Their garments were constructed often from many pieces of contrasting fabrics: many of the spreads show the original garments beside a detail image of the fabric. 

(Click for larger image)There are more than 175 spectacular patterns spanning 
a variety of periods and styles, from pre- and post-
revolutionary and Art Nouveau florals to Soviet-era propaganda and stripes. Short essays accompanied by fascinating sepia photographs describe the ‘social life’ 
of these gorgeous materials.

This book will take you on an exotic journey, inspire you, and fill you with wonder, whether you are an illustrator, an artist or aspiring pattern designer. 

(Click for larger image)Turkmen Bokche (lining on left, exterior on right), mid-twentieth century; made from recycled fabrics, including an early nineteenth-century embroidered chyrpy fragment, lined with Russian printed cotton(Click for larger image)Roller-printed cotton cloth (lining of an adras ikat munisak); Russia, late nineteenth-early twentieth century