The Art of Aroma: Contextualising Balaposh
Renowned for their regal roots, clever construction, and decorative designs, balaposh quilts represent the crème de la crème of West Bengal handiwork.
Originating in the Murshidabad district – the region’s silk production centre – in the 18th century, the balaposh was imagined and fabricated by Atir Khan in response to Nawab Sujauddin’s request for a quilt that was “soft like wool, warm like a lap, and gentle like a flower.” Placing a piece of scented cotton wool within two layers of silk and stitching only at the edges, Atir exceeded the Nawab’s expectations with the exquisite balaposh creation.
Biswa Bangla and Balaposh
Today, one balaposh practitioner remains: Sekhawat Hussain Khan, the great-grandson of Atir Khan. Featured in Balaposh – A Fragrant Inheritance, a beautiful film installation by designer Neishaa Gharat and acclaimed street photographer Vineett Vohra, Khan’s role is crucial to preserving the balaposh legacy and ensuring its future. By supporting this artisan, Biswa Bangla aims to revive balaposh, elevating it into international awareness and contextualising it within the realm of art history.
Eau de Elegance:
In addition to understanding its rich history and appreciating its ageless aesthetic, it is key to contextualise its artistic importance by exploring a unique and alluring aspect of the balaposh: a fragrance fit for a Nawab.
When unfolded, a delicate attar scent – “gentle like a flower” – drifts from its layers, complementing the craft’s aesthetic beauty with a lovely perfumed smell. While one may not always associate art with odour, the two have a long and sweet-smelling love affair*: in Egypt, as relief carving; in Pompeii, as an everlasting mural; in many western cultures, as a perfume bottle; and in Asia, as an aesthetic ideology (more on these perfumy art histories below). While these narratives are often chronicled in art history books or displayed in museums, some are often overlooked or forgotten – like the perfumed presence of West Bengal’s balaposh quilts and shawls – and an international platform proves to be crucial.
*An Olfactory Art History Lesson:
Aromatic Antiquities
In (very) ancient Egypt – roughly 1500 BC – incense and myrhh trees proved to be a popular motif in art, as evident in the reliefs and tomb paintings found in Dier el-Bahri’s mortuary temples. Meanwhile, in Classical Greece and Ancient Rome, artisans were busy creating beautiful glass vessels to hold perfumed oils. And, in the ill-fated city of Pompeii, the art of ancient perfume-making is perpetually preserved in a frieze found in the well-known House of the Vetti.
The Fragrant Far East
Kōdō, or the “way of fragrance,” is a concept found in both Japanese and Chinese consciousness. Born in the 16th century and enduring today, Kōdō calls for the recognition of incense-burning as an art form in and of itself. Additionally, scented fans and textiles as well as artisanal incense burners are historically embedded in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures and are still prevalent today.
A Modern Design
The recognizable perfume bottle design is evident in the still-life arrangements of the Dutch and Flemish Golden Ages. Centuries later, Impressionist painter Edgar Degas would incorporate it into his well-known voyeuristic portrayals of women at their toilette. And, in the twentieth century, the motif was given the Pop Art, Polaroid treatment by the acclaimed American artist Andy Warhol for his Perfume Bottles (1979) picture and his classic Chanel N°5 series.
Learn more about the crafts presented at the London Design Festival and then meet the makers!