Deepak & Daksha Hutheesing Collection
The collection consists of about 2000 items collected over generations and mostly my father. There are mostly women costumes of various Indian communities including the Royal Families. Mercantile and the nomadic, both Hindu and Muslim. There are Men’s costume as well as accessories like pursue, shoes, scarfs, hats, etc and a wonderful collection of hand embroidered laces in gold, silver and silk. A magnificent gold woven royal carpet, brocade canopies for royal bullocks etc. Few lovely children costumes as well. The period would range from late mughal to mostly the Raj era where one can see the evolution of various indo-European styles in fashion. The collection is privately owned by my family and has never been shown tough many museum invitations as my father did not allow. Some of the pieces were shown in Vogue in USA in June ’99.
Deepak & Daksha Hutheesing collection - ‘Les Derniers Maharajas presented by Pierre Berge - Yves Saint Laurent Foundation in Paris (10th February - 10th may 2010)
The Hutheesing Haveli in Ahmedabad is home to one of the richest and most amazing textile collections, assembled by the Hutheesing family over the course of four generations. The collection includes more than five thousand exceptional textile pieces, most of which date from early nineteenth century to the middle of twentieth century. The collection mirrors the rich panorama of Indian culture and heritage. The collection encompasses costumes, home furnishings and textile accessories related to a vast stratum of Indian Society. Created in varied textile mediums and techniques these collections personify the diverse cultural lifestyle of Indian princes and wealthy merchants to tribal and nomadic communities to the working classes of India’s past.
The Hutheesings are one of the most prominent families in Gujarat and India, having served as financers and advisors to the Mogul emperors and later becoming affiliated with important figures in contemporary Indian history such as Nehru, the father of independent India and Tagore, the great poet and Nobel laureate.
COLLECTION OF COSTUMES FROM THE GRAND DURBAR TO INDEPENDENCE
The British crown left the Maharajas their titles and property, but took away the foundation of their power: the right to wage war. Deprived of force, the favored means of expression of these warrior princes, the last Maharajas cultivated luxury and competed through the grandeur of their image. Clothing was at the heart of the social bond during this courtly period – from the Delhi Durbar of 1911, which brought all the noble families of India to the city, to the declaration of independence in 1947 – which marked the swan song of the Maharajas’ India. Splendor became the official language of the courts.
For textile creation, it was a remarkable era that sparked the talent of Indian artisans like never before. There was gold, silver, silk, brocade, embroidery, and a profusion of colours and precious materials; one could smell in the magnificence of this era’s costumes, which feature luxury on an excessive scale, the beautiful and tragic fragrance of decadence. They are the last fireworks of the Indias, a country which, in those days, wrote its name in the plural to emphasize the diversity of cultures that can be seen in these costumes and which would later fade somewhat with the widespread use of khadi, the white cotton that symbolizes the independence of a single united India and is to this day still the fabric of choice for most ministers in the Parliament. All that remains of the grandiose spectacle of the courts of the last Maharajas are the costumes: achkans, chogas, shervanis, saris, abhas, the garments with which this history was written.
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LES DERNIERS MAHARAJAS EXHIBITION |
IN FONDATION PIERRE BERGE YVES SAINT LAURANT, PARIS |
10TH FEBRUARY - 9TH MAY 2010 |
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COLLECTION REVIEW BY JEROME NEUTRES
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OF THE HUTHEESING COLLECTION |
UMANG HUTHEESING
Abha. Silk with gold embroidery depicting baskets of flowers. |
Costumes’ Photographs Credit: Dominique Cohas |
Umang Hutheesing, president of Hutheesing Heritage Foundation has travelled the world extensively, gaining insight in the different world cultures and traditions which are his passion. He is currently a member of the Governing Body of Ahmedabad Education Society, Advisory Board of AISEC Ahmedabad, Co-Chairman NRG and is a Committee Member of Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He has been the former convenor of INTACH and is on the Board of Ahmedabad Management Association.
AMERICAN VOGUE
Point de Vue
