Touched by Indigo - Royal Ontario Museum

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(glossy cloth) produced by certain ethnic groups, for example, is
specially treated to give off a sheen. Occasionally, a simple pattern
may even be woven into the cloth before it is dyed and treated so
that in addition to the sheen it is also textured. Patterning can also
be achieved by weaving together dyed and undyed yarns. Stripes,
bands, checks, or geometric configurations appearing in one colour
against a background of another colour certainly make a fabric look
more interesting than a plain one.
More often, cotton-patterning is achieved by different techniques
of resist-dyeing, namely tie-dye, wax-resist, clamp-resist,
and paste-resist. Each technique relies on a medium to prevent the
dye from touching the cloth where patterns are to be created. Such
dyed products may show patterns either in reserve against a dyed
ground (white on blue) or the reverse (blue on white). Although each
technique has its limitations, they all produce patterns that have
their own unique flavour. While all four techniques were practised
by the Han Chinese in the past, today wax-resist dyeing is done
almost exclusively by ethnic groups. Among these four techniques
tie-dye is widely practised, more among certain ethnic groups than
Han Chinese. Paste-resist dyeing also remains a prevalent form of
conventional dyeing. Clamp-resist dyeing, while still done nowadays
in a few localities in Zhejiang province, is on the verge of fading out.
Nevertheless, with the advent of the modern textile industry, changing
tastes, and a lack of interest among the younger generation to
learn these traditional skills, the survival of all these time-honoured
crafts is uncertain.
Of the four dyeing techniques we see today, wax-resist and
clamp-resist are used mainly for creating patterns on articles with
specific usages. In the case of wax-resist dyeing, because of the timeconsuming
designing and preparation processes, patterns are drawn
on precut parts of a garment or small squares and rectangles. After
dyeing these are assembled to create the desired article. Patterned
cotton made by clamp-resist dyeing is used exclusively for making
quilt covers. Only tie-dye and paste-resist dyed patterns are produced
in lengths of cloth as well as on specially designed articles of clothing
(e.g., bibs) and household furnishings (e.g., quilt covers, wrappers,
tablecloths).
No matter what the end-products are used for or how varied the
visual effects of the different patterns may be, as a rule, the two-toned
blue-and-white layout is elaborated to the utmost possible. Motifs are
designed to complement one another in shape and colour distribution.
The arrangement of these images, defined by a combination of
dots, lines, and blocks, creates a good balance of contrasts between
elements of solid (images) and void (their surrounding spaces).
Denseness is preferred over sparseness, since repeat elements in an
overall pattern engender an invigorating rhythm. Symmetry, too, often
plays an important role.
Embroidery is yet another method used to both embellish and
enhance the durability of plain cotton. Although the simple cross
stitch predominates, many other techniques are employed to make the
designs look more impressive. Embroidery is done only
on articles with predetermined purposes. Similar
to patterns that appear in resist-dyed fabrics,
embroidered motifs are rarely realistic images.
Their designers enjoy using artist's licence,
taking delight in abstraction, exaggeration,
repetition, fragmentation, and a total disregard
to relative proportions. Strangely, it is
exactly this lack of sophistication that makes
them charming and unique.
As in most other art forms, symbolism also
serves as an essential element in textile decoration.
In the past designers and consumers were both
well versed in the extensive repertoire of symbolic motifs
passed down from generation to generation. These were images
derived mainly from the flora and fauna, mythology, legends, histori-