Beige Tribal Art Print Tussar Ghicha Silk Unstitched Suit with Black Border

A three-piece unstitched suit set in Bhagalpuri tussar ghicha silk, printed
all over with a tribal dance procession in red, mustard, green and black on
an undyed beige ground, finished with a deep black serrated border.

The figures are drawn in the folk idiom of eastern India — tall, elongated
dancers, arms lifted, several balancing pots on their heads, their skirts
filled in with zigzags, spirals, dots and chevrons. They run right across the
body of the kurta panel and the dupatta rather than sitting in a single
panel, so the cloth reads as one continuous procession.

Framing them is a band of black serrated triangles, the temple border of
south and east Indian weaving, laid here against narrow ribbons of mustard,
red and green geometry. On the dupatta that black band widens into a solid
edge along both ends, with fringed tassels below it. The bottom is plain, in
a warm tan that picks up the mid-tone of the print.

Ghicha yarn is drawn from the outer layers of the tussar cocoon and spun by
hand, so the thread comes off the spindle uneven — thicker in one stretch,
finer in the next. Woven up, that unevenness reads across the cloth as fine
slubs and soft striations, with a matte lustre rather than a shine, and the
print sits into that texture instead of on top of it. 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: Tribal art screen print, multicolour on natural beige
Border: Black serrated temple border with mustard, red and green bands
Colour: Natural undyed beige with black; tan bottom
Dupatta finish: Fringed at both ends
Care: Dry clean only. Store folded in cotton muslin, away from direct sun.

CRAFT NOTE
Tussar ghicha is spun and woven in and around Bhagalpur in Bihar, on pit and
frame looms worked by hand. The figure work is screen printed onto the woven
cloth, drawn from the folk and tribal painting traditions of the region.