The History of Block Printing in India

Printing Block Printing began in the middle of the third millennium B.C. in the North West corner of India, now called Rajasthan and Gujarat. Locally grown hardwood, such as teak was harvested and carved by skilled artisans, soaked in olive oil and then dried in the Indian sun. The process is still going on unchanged some four and a half thousand years later.While the process might have remained unchanged in India, across the rest globe block printing has led a varied and distinguished life. The Industrial Revolution in England saw block printing brought into Britain's factories block printed cloth was mass produced on an enormous scale for distribution throughout the world. This proliferation landed block printing so firmly in the public eye that, by the mid Victorian era, fashionable artists began to adopt the technique. William Morris is probably foremost amongst these: indeed his patterns are still popular today and can be best enjoyed at the William Morris museum. This elevation of block printing to high art gave rise to its use in high fashion around the beginning of the twentieth century. Costume designers like Leon Bakst used the technique to create some of the most startling productions that the Ballet Russe has ever seen. In the middle of the last century block printing became ubiquitous and lost some of its cachet. Certainly in the 70's there was a sharp decline in its popularity. It will take a revolution like the one started by The Indian Block Company to bring block printing back to where is rightfully belongs.