Fabric of a people up for grabs! Textile collection acquired during travels to 'exotic lands' to be auctioned next week

Jasleen Dhamija at Saffronart in Prabhadevi PicAtul KambleEvery year after monsoon textile historian Jasleen Dhamija ensures that she pulls out her entire collection of handwoven silk shawls Zoroastrian ikat sofreh tablecloth embroidered Pashmina robes and Chamba rumals from the boxes airs them and stacks them back with dried tobacco and neem leaves ldquoWhen I would be travelling Irsquod always come back to do thisrdquo she says like a doting mother returning to check on her childrenA handwoven Pashmina long shawl from KashmirThis has been a ritual for the last 60 years But 7 months ago when she unearthed her stack it was to say a final goodbye The Delhibased crafts exponent and former UN worker is auctioning her entire textile collection acquired during her travels to Iran Central Asia and India at the Saffronart auction next week Each lot on auction is presented with text by Dr Monisha Ahmed a textile historian and anthropologistThe Shah Nama Kalamkari from Isfahan IranSo on a Thursday evening when we meet Dhamija at Saffronart in Prabhadevi the 83yearold is unable to take her eyes off the handcrafted textiles that adorn the walls ldquoI feel like theyrsquove come aliverdquo she says about the 82 rare pieces on display An elaborately patterned Kashmiri long shawl with detailing from the ceiling in the Shalimar R800000 to R1000000 hangs on the adjacent wall ldquoI remember it took me a year to pay for this shawl Back then I was a government employee working for All India Handicrafts and wasnrsquot paid handsomely And because the people selling them became friends they gave it to me on installmentsrdquo recalls Dhamija who was born in Lahore in 1933 While some have been purchased at bazaars others directly off the weaverrsquos loom and some are the first pieces from independent Indiarsquos revival effortsLot 42 Bagh Kabutri West Punjab Now Pakistan Circa 1930 Estimate Rs 400000 600000 6065 9095Dhamijarsquos journey began in 1956 when she was put in charge of reviving textiles ldquoIt fascinated me because I felt the textiles tell you a history of a people It was like a nonverbal languagerdquo says the author of Sacred Textiles of India 2014Back then Dhamija was working closely with social reformer and nationalist Kamaladevi Chatttopadhyay who was instrumental in reviving craft traditions that were in danger of dying out Referring to old British Gazetteers the duo located craftspeople in a village where they even met the last known weaver of the kani shawl a legacy of the MoghalsldquoDuring this time I was working as a cultural advisor on womenrsquos employment for UNDP which took me to Iran Tehran became my second home where I lived for seven yearsrdquo she says It was in Isfahan that Dhamija acquired the Shah Nama Kalamkari a hand drawn and handwoven cotton with a pictorial rendering of the Shah Nama based on an ancient Pahlavi work known as Xwadaynamag mdashthe Book of Kings from a master kalamkar in 1971On a parting note we ask her about what led her to part with this exquisite collection preserved over the years ldquoThe collection was just lying in my house in boxes All I hope is that my lifersquos work will not be forgottenrdquoWhat Woven Treasures Textiles from the Jasleen Dhamija CollectionWhere saffronartcomWhen October 19 930 pm to October 20 9 pm