At Joss Graham we sell bamboo chik blinds made-to-order by a small team of craftsmen in Delhi. The process of producing them has been finely tuned over centuries of production. The thick bamboo poles are grown in Assam, North East India.  The outer green is shaved off and the bamboo is then split into fine strips.  The chik-maker judges how many he or she needs to make up the required length.

These bamboo tillas are then woven into blinds using a variety of different designs. The women who do so are highly skilled in the craft.  Sitting on the floor in front of a long heavy bamboo pole, they begin by laying down one bamboo strip at a time, and with the cotton tied around stones or terracotta weights they then throw the paired weights in sequence to wrap the strings around the strop, thus creating the pattern.  The geometric designs so formed are known as ‘jaalis’.

Finally, the chiks are edged with woven tape and finished with a pulley and rope for rolling up and down.

Our classic blinds are made with undyed cotton thread and tape, however we also offer standard colours of black, light brown and dark brown, as well as the option to match a colour of your choice. We can either work to a customer-supplied colour swatch (a single flat colour preferably no smaller than 4” x 4”) or a Farrow & Ball paint colour. The elements which can be dyed are: the edging tape, the pattern string, the pulley cord and the pulleys.   The bamboo is always natural.