Turquoise Hand Painted Madhubani Tussar Ghicha Silk Saree – Bhagalpuri

Kadamb

Turquoise through the body, printed with a small cream flowering shoot, and then borders and pallu given over to painting — Radha and Krishna in profile inside a great oval medallion, a canopy of leaves and berries arching over them, his flute held between.

About the work

The Madhubani here is hand-painted, drawn directly onto the silk. Look closely and the hand is everywhere: the eyes and lips set down freehand, the fills hatched rather than flooded, the pencil underdrawing still faintly showing where the colour stopped short. The rings of triangle, rosette and leaf that frame the couple were each laid in one by one, so the spacing breathes instead of repeating.

Krishna and Radha beneath a flowering tree is the oldest subject in Mithila painting, and the painter has given it the composition it asks for — the two faces close together at the centre, the world arranged in circles outward from them.

The body carries a printed buti, small and evenly spaced, which lets the turquoise stay quiet so the painted border can do the talking.

About the fabric

Tussar Ghicha silk, handwoven in Bhagalpur. Ghicha is the yarn drawn from the outer layers of the cocoon and spun by hand — hence the slubby, uneven texture and the soft matte lustre. Turquoise on a slubbed ghicha reads deeper and less synthetic than it would on a smooth silk.

Details

• Fabric: Tussar Ghicha Silk
• Colour: Turquoise with natural beige
• Border and pallu: Hand-painted Madhubani (Mithila)
• Body: Printed cream buti, all over
• Pallu: Radha–Krishna medallion with flowering canopy and concentric borders
• Blouse piece:  unstitched, 0.8 m
• Saree length: 5.5 m | Width: 1.1 m
• Care: Dry clean only. Do not soak or scrub the painted areas. Store wrapped in cotton or muslin, refold along a different line every few months.

A note on hand work

Each piece is woven individually and the Madhubani is painted by hand, so no two are alike. Slight irregularities in the slub, in the line, and in the density of colour are the marks of the hand that made it. Colour may vary a little from your screen.