Jamdani

Jamdani is a handloom woven fabric made of cotton, which was historically referred to as muslin.

The Jamdani weaving tradition is of Bengali origin. It is one of the most time and labour-intensive forms of handloom weaving, and is considered one of the finest varieties of muslin,

Though mostly used for saris, Jamdani is also used for scarves and handkerchiefs.

Jamdani is derived from the Persian word “jam” (meaning floral) and 'Dani' a vase or container named after decorative floral patterns found in Dhakai Muslin.

During the regime (1605-1627) of Mughal emperor Jahangir, the plain Jamdani muslin was decorated with numerous floral designs. The emperor was seen wearing Jamdani muslin swatch around his waist in many occasions.

Dhaka in Bangladesh is  The Home of Jamdani

Muslin is made of at least 300 counts of thread, while Jamdani is made of 40 to 120 counts of thread.

Women members, in particular, of the weaving communities, do the work involving the spinning wheel. Locally made, the spinning wheels are made up of bamboo sticks. Over time they have started adopting some wheels made with spare mechanical tools.

The weavers collect threads from their local shops. It creates a small scale market network among the weavers, service providers, and producers.

Dyers use different types of colours to contrast the threads. Choice of colour depends on design and motifs.

A small shuttle of thread called ‘Maku’ is passed through the weft, during the weaving process. Two weavers sit alongside each other at the loom and add every discontinuous supplementary weft motifs separately by hand using a tool called ‘Kandul’. They interlace the supplementary weft threads into the warp with fine bamboo sticks in a zigzag manner using an individual spool of thread.

These weavers are locally called Tantees or Karigors. A village weaving community is generally composed of loom-dressers, dyers, spinners, and master weavers. All of them form a very closely-knit family bounded by enduring unity, distinctiveness, and unique character.

This is a supplementary weft technique of weaving, where the artistic motifs are produced by a non-structural weft, in addition to the standard weft that holds the warp threads together. The standard weft creates a fine, sheer fabric while the supplementary weft with thicker threads adds intricate patterns to it. Each supplementary weft motif is added separately by hand by interlacing the weft threads into the warp with fine bamboo sticks using individual spools of thread.

Jamdani motifs are mostly floral but in geometric shapes.

- The spread of the motifs diagonally across the fabric is called Tercha.

- Flowers like lotus, jasmine, rose, or vegetation like bananas, ginger, palms are popularly woven.

Duria Jamdani if the field is covered with polka dots like design, Belwari jamdani with colourful golden borders.

An early reference to the Indian origins of muslin is found in the book of Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and in the accounts of Arab, Chinese and Italian travellers and traders.

credits

Wikipedia

Unesco

Google Arts and Culture

Embroideries of India