March

Since earliest times, India's rich heritage of woven silks and silk embroidered fabrics of varying types, techniques and patterns were coveted by both the Indian and European ruling classes. During the period of Sikh rule in Punjab, Lahore and the holy city of Amritsar (founded by the 4th Sikh teacher, Guru Amardas Ji in 1577) were centres of silk trade. European visitors to the Sikh court described how members of Ranjit Singh's army wore spectacular silk brocades (kincob) and how Sikh nobles and courtiers favoured yellow silk garments. The use of real gold and silver thread in woven and embroidered silks made them the ultimate luxury textile and status symbol.

The artwork (right) depicts an embroidered silk wall hanging made in Punjab during the 19th century. It is typical of the more affordable decorative silk textiles (embroidered with artificial gold thread and beads in a style known as 'Zari' work) produced for colonial Anglo-Indian communities within India as well as the growing European tourist and export market at that time. Such items, were often carried back home by Britain's connected to India (through administrative, missionary and military work for example) as mementos of time spent in India