Reeling, sorting hanks of yarn, dyeing, marketing and looking for customers — the artistic series of paintings on mica sheets depict the handloom operations in Indian in the 17th century. “These paintings were taken by the East India Comp
any to England to show their customers and were later dumped there. Our founder trustee found them and brought them back,’ says M. Kuppuraj, the curator, as he takes you around the handloom section of the textile museum.
The museum is part of the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery set up in 1988 by late K. Sreenivasan, a visionary, textiles scientist and a writer. Also housed in the museum are traditional looms such as the loin loom, used by Naga tribes (one end of the loom is tied to the waist of the tribe and the other to the tree trunk), looms used by tribals in Madhya Pradesh, hank holders and a model of a drugget loom, which is used to weave carpets.
Celebrating India
On display are sarees that were showcased in various festivals of India. Decorative kaavadi with intricate craftsmanship is also part of the exhibit. Do not miss the pictorial representation of woollen blanket weaving, traditionally done by the Kurumbha tribe in Kalangal village near Sulur.
History of textile technology is a must-visit— beginning with whorl wheels of Egypt and the spinning wheels of Mohenjo-Daro and Takli spinning, to Chinese silk weaving and ancient methods of hand ginning. Among the interesting exhibits are Leonardo Da Vinci’s spinning wheel (Saxony wheel) and samples of thousand-year-old fabric from the Tellem caves of Nigeria. A model of manual vertical weaving preparations belonging to 1760 A.D and Muller powerloom in use in 1796 A.D are available at the museum “Now it has given way to mechanised, computer linked and electrically operated weaving,” explains Kuppuraj.
Rare documents from the first district conference held in Coimbatore, the memorandum of association of Coimbatore Spinning and Weaving Co Ltd (the first mill in Coimbatore), photographs of the methods used to pack cotton (1764 A.D), Indigo manufacturing in India (1887 A.D), and cotton hydraulic press are displayed.
The portrait of William Lee (inventor of first knitting machine in 1589 A.D) and his family has been created on woven fabric using the latest knitting technology. There is a woven portrait of Joseph Jacquard (inventor of Jacquard machines) donated by the industrialist Rajshree Pathy.
There is a separate section on ‘methods of yarn formation’ and you will see the model of a Takli spinning unit here. “It was much too noisy and used to be operated only in underground rooms. It is no longer in use and one has to come to the museum to see the model,” says Kuppuraj. Models of ring spinning (400 spindles), air vortex spinning, open end spinning (for low counts), air jet spinning, wrap spinning, Saxony spinning wheels developed in European countries and hand spinning equipment are displayed here.
A model of Crompton’s spinning mule, developed by Samuel Crompton (1779 A.D) and various models of charka are among the other noteworthy exhibits. “Small charkas gave way to big charkas with intermediate gear to increase the spinning speed and you also have kissan charka (the box model that is portable) and four spindle wooden amber charka,” Kuppuraj points out.
Entry to the museum is free and the timing is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Sundays). For details, call: 0422-2574110.
K. JESHI
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