Indian Textile Printing Block

Paisleys wrestle with leafy vines in a field spotted with pale pinholes.

This carved wood textile printing block is from Varanasi, India, and dates to the 20th century. Printing blocks are usually carved from a dense, fine-grained wood, because the design must hold sharp edges through many repeated impressions. Taken as a whole, an irregular, roughly square slab with a torn-looking upper edge. Curling stems, teardrop forms and small round flowers fill the face in a dense, tangled arrangement. Several tiny holes show as light dots against the dark surface. It is 6 inches wide, 3 deep and 5 high.

Wildly overgrown, yet every tendril was placed on purpose.