Labels of Empire

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Author: Susan MellerOrganised by subject, from “Gods and Goddesses” to “Swaraj and Swadeshi,” 'Labels of Empire' begins with the late 19th-century heyday of British textile manufac turing and closes with Indian independence in 1947. By combining visual narrative, magical realism, popular culture, and history in a way never done before, this book gives an unprecedented view of the British textile industry during the time of the Raj – and its remarkably successful use of paper labels as trademarks.It was said that at one time Great Britain clothed the world. In the 1880s, when the British textile industry was at its most prosperous to date, much of the world’s population wore clothing made from fabric produced in the mills of Lancashire. From 1910 to 1913 alone, seven billion yards of cloth were folded, stamped, labelled, and baled. Most of this output was for export—with 40 percent of it shipped to India.In order to differentiate their goods, British textile manufacturers and their agents had illustrated paper labels known as “shipper’s tickets” pasted to the faceplate of each piece of folded cloth sold into the competitive Indian market. Designed, printed, and registered to appeal to the local people, and printed and registered in Manchester, these brightly coloured images further helped to establish a company’s brand. Hindu gods, native animals, scenes from the great Indian epics – the Mahabharata and Ramayana – and views of everyday life were common subjects. In a sense a form of premium, they provided the consumer with an additional incentive to buy the goods of a particular firm.ISBN 9781954081253. GOFF BOOKS. hb. 544 pages. 1285 colour ills. 22.9 x 29.8 cm.available to order Show more