Block printing

What is Block printing?

Block printing is a way of putting patterns onto cloth. A craftsman carves a design in relief on a thick wooden block, coats it with colour, and stamps it onto stretched fabric. In India and neighbouring countries the block itself is called chhapa. Among those who do this work in India are the Chhipi, Chhimba and Chhapola groups, who prepare both the blocks and the cloth. The fabrics most often used are cotton, linen and silk. The result is a patterned textile.

Where does Block printing come from?

The history of block printing reaches back to the ancient world. Early civilisations in Egypt, China and Assyria are thought to have stamped patterns onto cloth using carved stone or wood. In South Asia there is evidence of widespread textile printing from early periods, and reports that block-printed cloth was already being produced in India at the time of Alexander’s invasion. From the sixteenth century, Dutch and other European traders began buying printed Indian calico. In the nineteenth century, European printers adapted the craft with machinery and metal plates, while hand-block traditions continued in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar.

How is Block printing made?

The printer starts with a block of hardwood such as pear, sycamore or plane, only a few inches thick to stop it warping. Several pieces are tongued, grooved and glued together with alternating grain. The design is traced onto the flat surface and the cutter chisels away the background, leaving the pattern in relief. Large colour areas are hollowed out and filled with felt so the dye spreads evenly. Fine details are added by driving thin copper strips into the wood, a method called coppering. A separate block is carved for every colour. The cloth is stretched over a padded table, the block is dipped into dye and pressed firmly onto the fabric by hand, repeating the impression across the length.

Colours, motifs and borders

The range of patterns produced by woodblock printing is broad. Ancient Egyptian examples show spots, stripes and zigzags, while later fragments display figure-subjects and orderly patterns. Because each colour needs its own block, complex designs are built up in stages. Coppering allows minute stars, rosettes and tiny dots to appear clearly. Traditional South Asian prints often cover the cloth with stamped motifs rather than woven borders, so the pattern sits on the surface of the fabric.

Styles of Block printing

Hand-block printing survives in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar, while European industry moved to machinery and engraved metal plates in the nineteenth century. Within South Asia the craft is tied to caste occupations such as the Chhipi and Chhimba rather than to a single town. A hand-printed cloth carries the slight irregularities of each stamped impression, which distinguish it from machine-made fabric.

What Block printing means

For the Chhipi, Chhimba, Chhapa and Chhapola communities of India, block printing is a traditional occupation passed down within the caste. The work binds identity to the craft of carving and stamping cloth, and these groups continue to practise it today. The name chhapa, used across South Asia for the wooden block itself, signals the shared cultural root of the practice in the region.

Questions people ask about Block printing

Good reading and sources

• Printed Linen | unknownV&A, Article

• Woodblock printing on textiles on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data