Natural Dye
Historical evidences suggest that the dye technology originated in India. In 1875 Mr. Thomas Wardle, an English silk dyer, compiled 3000 samples of dye patterns, extracted from 64 plants, depicting Indian dying traditions, in 15 volumes captioned ‘Fabrics dyed with Indian Dyes’. Of the three sets of these volumes, the only set available with Botanical Survey of India, is being digitized to make this invaluable information on Indian herbal dyes easily accessible, and to check further deterioration of these valuable national assets.
Textile Design
The Botanical Survey of India has 18 volumes containing 700 samples and 14 volumes (2nd series) containing 1082 sample of Indian Textiles in silk, cotton, muslin and wool, being one of the 20 sets captioned ‘Textiles manufactures and costumes of the People of India’ compiled by John Forbes Watson in 1866 and 1874. The samples of these textile designs are being digitized to make this invaluable information on traditional Indian textile designs easily accessible, and to check further deterioration of these valuable national assets.
