hand block printed

SHILPI's range of hand block printed home furnishings that include duvet covers, bed spreads, drapes, cushion covers, curtains, pillow covers, table cloths, valances and shower curtains are sourced from the desert state of Rajasthan, where entire villages derive their livelihood from the craft of hand block printing. One gets the sense of being caught in a time warp as camel drawn carts, laden with logs of shesham and bales of fabric, sashay their way down chaotic dusty streets, enabling with every step the metamorphosis of their cargo into gorgeously hued hand block printed textiles.

The block-printed cottons of Jaipur have been renowned for their exquisite pattern, and coloring for at least two hundred and fifty years. Traditional prints favored greatly by the Mughal Emperors and their imperial courts, featured delicate floral sprays, spaced evenly on a white, pastel blue or yellow ground of fine cotton. While designing our collection of home furnishings it has been our endeavor to fuse traditional flavor with a good dose of modern aesthetic sensibility.

The tradition of hand block printing has continued to exist on a parallel universe, stubbornly resistant to industrialization, and is to this day practiced without the aid of mechanization or computerization. It is this defiant indifference to mechanization that gives block printing the aura of a pure craft form and makes block printed textiles so esteemed. Traditionally these textiles played an integral part of village life. However, with the introduction of mill prints and easy to maintain wash and wear synthetics, these textiles are gradually losing their appeal to the village consumer. It is only a growing appreciation of this craft in urban and export markets that is keeping this ebbing craft alive.