The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston recently acquired 187 Indian textiles from Ithaca, New York-based collectors Banoo and Jeevak Parpia, whose private collection, assembled over the course of more than 40 years, is considered one of the most significant of its kind globally.
The exhibition From India to the World: Textiles from the Parpia Collection will display 67 pieces from this major acquisition, featuring both trade and domestic Indian textiles produced between the 17th and the early 20th centuries. It opens June 22 and will be on view through September 14, 2025 at the MFAH.
A “pivotal addition,” these newly acquired textiles mark a milestone for the MFAH, which becomes an institution that holds one of the top public Indian textile collections outside of India, according to Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH.
According to a press release, the exhibition will highlight “the distinctions between fabrics made for the India market and those produced for export to Southeast Asia and to Europe; their striking differences in color, pattern and format attest to the versatility with which Indian textile artists adapted designs to different markets.”
Pieces range from woven silks and muslins, embroideries, tie-dyes and ikats, and block-printed cottons for the home market; to chintzes made for export to Britain and The Netherlands; to a quilt embroidered with Biblical and classical scenes that was traded to Portugal.
“The Parpias’ focus on singular works exemplifying traditional forms and techniques offers a comprehensive view of Indian textile history,” Tinterow said in a statement.
Previously, the Parpias had loaned textiles to the MFAH for the exhibition, Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection, presented in 2023.
Houston Arts Journal 