Bed Cover

India, southern area of Coromandel Coast, c. 1700-1725, hand-painted cotton, silk

The Amsterdam city coat of arms is painted in the centre and four corners of this bedspread: an oval shield with three crosses. This is the only known chintz cover with a city’s coat of arms. The earliest mention of an armorial chintz dates from 1614, when the Dutchman Wemmer van Berchem sent a batch of chintzes from the Coromandel Coast to Pieter Both, Governor-General of the VOC in Batavia. The fabric was decorated with Both’s coat of arms.

  • Artwork typetextile materials, bed covering, bedspread, blanket
  • Object numberBK-1966-20
  • Dimensionslength 260.0 cm x width 248.0 cm
  • Physical characteristicsbeschilderde en bedrukte katoen (sits)