Alexandre Legoux de Flaix Book Cover
Checked cotton handkerchief, possibly of the Masulipatnam variety Unknown weaver South India, 18th century Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, HM.2808

Texts describing the characteristics of different fabrics helped guide traders in South Indian commerce. This essay written by Alexandre Legoux de Flaix a Frenchman born in Pondicherry, India, is one of the most detailed Indian textile trade guides ever written. Using research he compiled while in India over the 1770s and 1780s, Legoux de Flaix recorded the precise characteristics, costs and commissioning methods of dozens of varieties of South Indian cloth, including two varieties of South Indian checked cotton handkerchief: the Masulipatnam and the Pulicat. Like Madras, both were named for the South Indian port cities associated with their production and trade. The thread count, colouring and dimensions of the handkerchief pictured here matches Legoux de Flaix's description of a Masulipatnam handkerchief.

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