Indian Textile Printing Block

Vines and rounded flowers meander between two neat strips of tiny blossoms.

This carved wood textile printing block is from Varanasi, India, and dates to the 20th century. Varanasi is a long-established center of textile work in India, known for silk weaving and for cloth decorated by hand with carved wooden blocks. At first glance, a broad rectangular slab with narrow ruled bands top and bottom, each lined with a chain of small florets. The central field carries branching stems, leaves and open blooms in shallow relief. The surface is a soft, gray-tinged black. It is 6 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 3.75 high.

A garden path, flattened and ready for ink.