Exhibition of Textiles, Art & Photos of Rajasthan at the Chapel Gallery, October 2025.
For two weekends we took over the Old Chapel Gallery in Nether Edge, Sheffield. It was an opportunity to display some of our textiles, paintings and photographs in a different context. Let's take a look around.
A large 120x90cm photo of the magnificent Neemrana stepwell greeted you in the lobby. Neemrana is described on the local maps as Deep Well; it's about 600 years old and nine storeys deep. What you see in the photo is all below ground; in fact it's almost impossible to get the whole structure in one photo. Not much is known about its construction, it's in the middle of nowhere but possibly related to the nearby Neemrana Fort, now a hotel.
Facing you as you enter the main room are three large square framed photographs of stepwells, the Raniji ki Baori in Bundi after the monsoon rain, the Panna Meena Kund at Amer near Jaipur and the 1000 year old Rani ki Vav just outside Rajasthan at Patan in Gujarat.
These Indian miniatures were painted by our friend Mukesh in the delightful small Rajasthani town of Bundi. They're painted on old - very old, maybe 70-100 year old - court paper with the coat of arms of Bundi and Jaipur (with the old spelling of Jeypoor). They are stamped with the legal fee of 1 anna or 8 annas; annas were 1/16th of a rupee last used over 70 years ago. You have to look very carefully to see Mukesh's signature hidden in the paintings.
Below them are photograph of a Lake and Pavilions near Jaiselmer and the Royal Palace water tank, also with pavilions, at Alwar. The Neemrana Hotel at Alwar is about 2 hours drive from Delhi airport and a great option for your first night in India if you're heading to Rajasthan and don't want to bother with Delhi.
On this large panel are more Indian miniature paintings, some from Bundi, other, like the central painting of cows, from Udaipur. They feature tigers, flowers, elephants and wonderful birds like hoopoos and black neck cranes. They are all hand painted, each one is unique.
Moving around the gallery, the top two photos are from Jaiselmer. On the left is a view from the fort walls looking inwards to the beautiful golden sandstone havelis; on the right is the entrance to a Jain temple somewhat outside the main town.Below them are two photos from inside the ancient fort at Nagaur, halfway between Jaipur and Jodhpur.
Nagaur Fort is unusual in being in the middle of a flat plain. It's completely surrounded by an intact fort wall. Like many old forts it's slowly being restored and transformed into a hotel. But there are only half a dozen rooms and we wondered how they make it pay. The answer is that they set up luxury tents in the huge open space of the fort for wedding parties.
Nagaur Fort is unusual in being in the middle of a flat plain. It's completely surrounded by an intact fort wall. Like many old forts it's slowly being restored and transformed into a hotel. But there are only half a dozen rooms and we wondered how they make it pay. The answer is that they set up luxury tents in the huge open space of the fort for wedding parties.
If you want to splash out on a truly special place to stay for a night, I'd recommend the Nagaur Fort Hotel.
Moving around the gallery we have three more stepwells - from left to right: Red Fort stepwell, Delhi; village stepwell at the village of Bas between Jaipur and Bundi; the Raniji ki Baori in Bundi before the monsoon rain. Raniji ki Baori means the blessed Queen's stepwell.
On the shelf below are some our self published books containing photographs and narratives from our travels in India & Tibet.
This large piece of textile art depicts Krishna surrounded by cows. Krishna is renouned as a lover of the gopis, or cow girls; along the bottom edge is an old panel embroidered with images of gopis. Cows are sacred in India on account of their association with Krishna.
It is a unique and superb piece from the collection we assembled in the 1970's. It was originally made as an exhibition piece to demonstrate the skills of the textiles artisans. It's an outstanding piece of textile work made from vintage panels of ikat and tie dyed silks.
These embroideries are typical of village Rajasthan: the square pieces are chaklas used on the wall as decorations or as small covers aroud the home - sandy dust is everywhere in the semi desert of Rajasthan. The piece with hanging pennants is a toran (originally a Persian word meaning gateway) that would be placed over a door to the house. The long narrow embroidered panels are called bokhanis, they're worn as a sash by men at their wedding.
At the Silk Road we specialise in Indian quilts and bedspreads - classic items from Rajasthan. we have many beautiful designs.In the lower photo the V shaped embroidery is a saya ghosh which is actually from Afghanistan where it is used in nomad's tents to mark out which pile of bedding is who's.
On the bench is an old Kantha bedcover and a white Gudri embroidered bedspread from the far west of Rajasthan, near the Barmer district and close to the border with Pakistan. A different style of embroidery, hard to find, very subtle and beautiful.
Hope you enjoyed the tour, all these items and much more are safely rehoused at the Silk Road Gallery where we are open Fridays and Saturdays 11-4.30. Add your name to our mailing list to hear about future exhibitions and talks.