Chintz: India's Precolonial Textile Export Revealed in New Book

A new book, 'Chintz: Indian Cotton Textiles from the Karun Thakar Collection', explores the global history of chintz, a block-printed cotton fabric that was a major precolonial export from India. Published by ACC Art Books on 28 November 2025, the 400-page volume features 300 colour illustrations and essays by 12 scholars, including Avalon Fotheringham (curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum) and John Guy (Metropolitan Museum of Art). The book traces chintz's trade routes from the 13th century to Japan, Indonesia, France, and Britain, long before European colonialism. It highlights the unknown artisans from oral societies who created these textiles, which were often used for specific purposes and rarely survive. The term 'chintz' derives from Hindi for 'spray' or 'splattered', and the fabric typically features red and indigo dyes on ivory cotton. Notable examples include 18th-century jackets for the Thai king's guards made on the Coromandel Coast, and 'The Flower Picker', a unique piece referencing 9th-century Tamil poet Manikkavacakar. The book argues that chintz makers were among the most influential in art and design history, despite the industry's decline due to European industrialization.