Maanasa Throw Pillow

Material: Cotton/linen blend

Details: Striped printed with piping. Finished with a cotton backing and closed with an invisible YKK zipper. The cushion is stuffed with an oversized down insert.

Please note that as a unique, handmade pillow, no two pieces are ever the same, and colors vary across monitors. Further, small imperfections are normal and reflect the handmade nature of this product.

Please remove the insert before cleaning your pillow cover, then spot clean only.

This pillow draws inspiration from chintz (which originates from the Hindi word chint or chitta, meaning spotted or variegated), the vibrant patterns of wildlife and flowers on neutral, light cotton backgrounds that were popularized in European interior design. Originally, the designs were hand drawn with a bamboo pen called kalam (meaning reed, or pen) before being fixed and dyed. Block printing was later incorporated into the months long manufacturing process.

Chintz represents one of the darkest aspects of European colonialism, as its popularity threatened the silk and wool industries of England. As a result, France and England both banned the importation and use of chintz fabric. In 1742, a Catholic missionary stole the know how behind chintz manufacturing and brought it back to Europe, where mills developed mechanized processes for replicating production. The ban on chintz was lifted in in 1759, but with the industrialization of chintz production firmly in place, the demand for Indian-produced chintz plummeted.

Our design plays with scale and color to produce a more dramatic chintz and includes inspiration from both kalamkari (the hand drawn process) and block printing executed in a combination of print and embroidery to provide texture and elegance.