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Parsiana
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From Canton to Bombay

An exhibition titled "Across Oceans and Flowing Silk — From Canton to Bombay 18th-20th Centuries” will open at the National Gallery of Modern Art on December 28, 2013 on the occasion of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress to be held in Bombay, hosted by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet.
This exhibition will cover the story of the Parsi trade with China, the ships they built, various commodities they traded in such as textiles, Chinese chests, furniture, jewelry, coins, bank notes, letters, porcelain, portraits, etc which they brought back from Canton, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao and other places in China.
If you want to be a part of this historic exhibition and help us create a unique collection of items to be displayed, please contact us if you have:
Uniquely embroidered garas, kors, jabhlas, ijars, caps or other embroidered clothing or pieces connected with the China trade, especially the original boxes in which the garas and kors were shipped from China.
Carved Chinese chests, opium chests and furniture; Chinese screens with mother of pearl inlay, tables and cupboards.
Jewelry made in China, Chinese coins, bank notes, Chinese boxes and ornaments.
Documents concerning ships and shipping activities, drawings and blueprints of ships under construction, documents concerning the Bombay ports, bills of lading, letters written from China and letters written by Parsi merchants to their English and Chinese counterparts.
Portraits of Parsi merchants done in China, portraits of English and Chinese Hong merchants.
Paintings of sailing vessels and opium clippers and scenes from Canton, Macao and Hong Kong. Lithographs or etchings of the factories or buildings in Canton.
Models of Wadia built trading ships, opium clippers and Chinese junks.
Old photographs, small cameos and Victorian button photographs done in China.
Chinese export porcelain, blue and white ware, and other porcelain pieces from different periods; monograms, including place settings, tableware and glasses.
A section of the exhibition will cover our settlements in Yazd and Kerman in Iran as well as Navsari and Surat in Gujarat.
All objects pertaining to these places and connected to the community such as tanchhoi saris and other woven pieces; zari embroidered caps; phetas and pugrees; do-path saris; Zoroastrian Iranian costumes, makhnus and turbans; old letters, maps, lithographs, photographs, etc pertaining to Iran and India are welcome.
All objects displayed in the exhibition will be acknowledged. A catalog will accompany the exhibition and every piece displayed will be shown in the catalog. This will give your piece prominence and add value to it as an acknowledged artifact, displayed at an official exhibition. All items and objects will be photographed, documented, insured and returned to individual owners in January 2014, after the exhibition.
Interested parties may contact Pheroza J. Godrej, Firoza Punthakey Mistree or Homai N. Modi by tel: 022-66365606/07 or email: acrossoceansflowingsilks@gmail.com
PHEROZA J. GODREJ
FIROZA PUNTHAKEY MISTREE
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