Banyan
Description
Red silk banyan owned and worn by Solomon Etting (1764-1847). Banyans, the loose robes or dressing gowns men wore informally in their homes, reveal the influences from the Middle East and Far East in the Western World. Constructed from luxurious imported fabrics, such as hand-painted India chintzes and Chinese silks, these robes symbolized a man’s worldliness and connections to foreign lands. Such a visual proclamation from Etting’s own banyan coincides with his career as a merchant involved in the Baltimore East India Trading Company.
Creator
Date
circa 1780s