Palampore

Unknown artist

Palampores were a regular feature of the eighteenth-century chintz trade to Europe, where they were prized as wall hangings and bed and table coverings. They typically show a central flower-and-fruit-bearing serpentine tree emerging from a hillock with stylized peaks or rocks. In addition to those produced for the Dutch and English markets, a class of smaller palampores was made expressly for the intra-Asian trade. This robustly painted version was originally sourced to Sri Lanka, likely made for the European communities in Batavia and Colombo or for families of mixed European and Asian descent wishing to emulate Western taste.cat. no. 37