Beige & Multicolour Hand Painted Madhubani Tussar Ghicha Unstitched Suit

A three-piece unstitched suit set in Bhagalpuri tussar ghicha silk, painted
by hand in coral, teal, slate blue and orange on an undyed beige ground, with
a plain tan bottom.

The kurta panel carries a painted yoke shaped like a necklace — a deep
scalloped neckline ringed with buds, petals and small blocks of flat colour,
following the curve the way a strand of beads would sit. A narrower painted
band runs along the hem. Between them the cloth is left almost bare, with
only single buds scattered across it at wide intervals, so the yoke does the
work and the silk is allowed to show.

The dupatta is painted along both long edges with a running border of the
same buds and blocks, widening into fuller panels at the ends above a natural
cream fringe. Nothing here is a contrast colour or an added border: the
painting sits directly on the beige.

The ghicha on this piece is coarser than most. Its yarn is drawn from the
outer layers of the tussar cocoon and spun by hand, and the unevenness of
that hand-spun thread reads here as broad slubs running the width of the
cloth, almost like grain in wood. The lustre is matte. The beige is the
natural colour of the cocoon; nothing has been dyed.

DETAILS
Fabric: Pure handloom tussar ghicha silk (kurta and dupatta), plain tan bottom
Kurta panel: 2.50 m
Dupatta: 2.25 m
Bottom: 2.00 m
Work: Hand painted Madhubani in coral, teal, slate blue and orange
Kurta: Painted yoke and hem band, scattered buds across the ground
Dupatta: Painted border on both edges, fuller painted end panels
Colour: Natural undyed beige with multicolour painting; tan bottom
Dupatta finish: Natural cream fringe at both ends
Care: Dry clean only. Store folded in cotton muslin, away from direct sun.

Each piece is painted individually, so small variations between one set and
the next are part of the work rather than a fault.

CRAFT NOTE
Tussar ghicha is spun and woven in and around Bhagalpur in Bihar, on pit and
frame looms worked by hand. Madhubani painting comes from the Mithila region
of the same state — a wall-and-floor tradition carried by women for
generations, moved onto cloth and paper in the last century.