One of my favorite sources for motifs, colors, and technology used in medieval Indian fabrics is
From Riches to Rags: Indian Block-Printed
Textiles
Traded to Egypt,
the
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology's online exhibit of
13th- to 17th-century Indian cotton trade textiles found
in Egyptian sites, and the catalog from the original exhibit, Indian Block-Printed Cotton Fragments in the Kelsey Museum,
The University of Michigan, by Dr. Ruth Barnes of the Ashmolean Museum.
The book, published by the University of Michigan Press, is sometimes available from used-book sellers.
Some artifacts that share design elements with our
dupattas include:
Zig-Zag and Flowers (Accession No. 94139, Catalogue No. 51)
Leaves and Trees in Pots (Accession No. 22700, Catalogue No. 48)
Vines and Flowers (Accession No. 22702, Catalogue No. 50)
Vines, Flowers, and Teardrops (Accession No. 94120, Catalogue No. 45)
The "palmette" motif (Accession No. 94114, Catalogue No. 25), with its familar offset repeat, is also one I see reflected in a variety of
the textiles still being printed today.
Back to fabrics by era:
Medieval
