42 
THE INDIAN MUSEUM: 1814—1914. 
India or from Kathiawar. May it not be a small link in the 
chain of evidence in support of the Southern India tradition 
that the people of the south of the Peninsula and the Java¬ 
nese are both experts in the same peculiar craft ? 
Near this collection is exhibited a series of cotton cloths 
treated by a decorative process known as tie-dyeing.” As 
a process it is probably one of the most interesting we have 
in India, and one that exhibits most plainly the patient 
character of the Indian workman. It will be seen that the 
pattern must necessarily on account of the method employed 
consist of a series of small dots or circles. One would natur¬ 
ally assume that a design worked out by means of this one 
circular element would not be capable of much elaboration; 
that the limitations imposed upon him would restrict the 
workman to simple scrolls and geometrical forms. But the 
reverse is often the case^ as many of these fabrics depict 
intricate borders of elephants and cavaliers, chariots and 
horses, musicians and dancing girls, all drawn in outlines 
formed by a series of innumerable small dots. However, the 
method adopted by the dyer to secure this effect is the most 
astonishing part of this industry, as each minute dot is ob¬ 
tained by the fabric being tied up into a knot by means of a 
thread. When this part of the process is complete—that is 
the fabric being tied up into some thousands of knots—it is 
put into the dye-pot. The knots bound up tightly with the 
thread resist the action of the dye, and ultimately when the 
colouring process is complete, this thread is removed reveal¬ 
ing a small white undyed spot, the thousands of which are so 
arranged as to produce the desired pattern. No description 
can do justice to this process, which, regarded in any light, 
is possibly one of the most remarkable on record. The art is 
an extensive one and is found in most of the bazaars of India, 
but its original home was undoubtedly Rajputana, where 
some of the most elaborate tie-dyed fabrics are manufactured. 
The story of this art has an interesting sequel. It has 
been explained that the article is a cotton cloth, and the 
pattern appears as white spots on a red ground. The asso¬ 
ciation of this species of fabric with a machine-made produc¬ 
tion in England, used by the British workman, may seem 
