Blue & White Stylized Birds Cotton Robe

Art-inspired gifts for her, only from The Met.

The eye-catching design on this soft cotton robe is adapted from a blue-resist curtain panel probably created in America around 1725–75. Blue-resist textiles were crafted by applying a dye-resistant substance such as wax around a pattern, and then dipping the cloth in an indigo bath. The origins of blue-resist fabric have long bewildered scholars; once thought to be rare, early American-made printed textiles, they were more likely commissioned from Indian artisans by the English East India Company for export to the colonies, where they were made into bed hangings, quilts, and curtains such as this one in The Met collection.