Krishna Riboud

Krishna Riboud (née Roy; 12 October 1926 – 27 June 2000) was an Indian historian and art collector, specializing in Indian and Chinese antiquities and textiles.

Riboud began her textile collection in the 1950s, when she started purchasing Baluchari saris from Bengal. She was a member of the jury of the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.

Early life and education Roy was born on 12 October 1926 in Dhaka, the daughter of Rajendra Roy, director of public health in East Bengal and Ena Tagore Roy. Her mother was a grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore. Her father died, when Roy was ten years old, and she was raised by her maternal uncle Soumendranath Tagore in Calcutta. Her uncle was influential in her life. In 1983, she told The New Yorker, "My uncle, whom I had a passion for, was a revolutionary Marxist, and his Marxism was very different from the Communism we know now." She also recalled witnessing her uncle being arrested by British police and forced on to a train at Calcutta railway station. At the party, she met the chairman of Schlumberger, Jean Riboud. Riboud would later describe her as "one of three absolutely adorable, beautiful young Indian girls who were visiting from Wellesley College". Recalling the meeting, Roy later stated that Riboud had made "no impression whatsoever". After their first meeting, Riboud invited Roy to take a walk during which he asked about her uncles, and they discussed India, her philosophy studies, and modern art. He also asked her to join him and his sister Françoise, on a trip around the United States. Roy agreed, and in the summer of 1949, the three traveled by car to Seattle, along the Pacific Coast to Arizona, and across the country to the home of American poet and critic Charles Olson at Black Mountain College. Krishna Riboud died at her home in Paris, France, on 27 June 2000.

Selected publications Books (ed.) In Quest of Themes and Skills: Asian Textiles (Bombay: Marg Publications, 1989. (ed.) Traditional Costumes and Textiles of Japan (AEDTA exhibitions of Japanese textiles) (ed.) Samit and Lampas: Indian Motifs (Ahmedabad: Calico Museum, 1998) (co-ed.) The Fabric of India (V&A Publishing, 2015) Articles “A Closer View of Early Chinese Silks”, in Studies in Textile History in Memory of Harold B. Burnham, ed. Veronika Gervers (Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1977), pp. 252–280. “References to Textiles in Bana’s Harshacharita”, Journal of Indian Textile History (n.d.) “Studies in Indo-European Textile History” (1966) "A Reappraisal of Han Dynasty Monochrome Figured Silks", Bulletin de Liaison, CIETA 38 (1973) "A Survey of Votive and Ritual Textiles from the Han to T'ang Dynasty", Proceedings, 5th ISCRCP, Interregional Influences in East Asian Art History (1982) "Découvertes récentes de soieries en Chine: Dynasties des Royaumes Combattants et des Han", Les Routes de la Soie: patrimoine commun, identités plurielles. Editions UNESCO 1994, pp.21-34. "Deux documents écrits sur soie datant de la dynastie Han", Histoire et Cultes de L'Asie Centrale Préislamique (Paris, Editions de CNRS, 1991) "Further Indication of Changing Techniques in Figured Silks of the Post-Han Period (AD 4th to 8th century)", Bulletin du CIETA (Lyon: Centre International d'étude des Textiles Anciens, 1975, no 41-42, pp. 13-40, with illustrations. Some remarks on the face-covers (fu-mien) discovered in the tombs of Astana", Oriental Art, New Series, Vol. 23, No. 4 (1977): pp. 438–454. "Pratiques funéraires dans les nécropoles d'Astana", Cultes et monuments religieux dans l'Asie Centrale preislamique (Paris: Editions de CNRS, 1987) AEDTA publications initiated or edited by Krishna Riboud These were often collaborative catalogues: AEDTA Bibliography Chinese Costume and Accessories: 17th–20th Century Le motif floral dans les tissus moghols : Inde Les tiraz et tissus proto-islamiques de la collection de l’AEDTA Motifs indiens Phulkari : fleurs brodées du Punjab Aspects of the KashmirshawlQuelques aspects du châle cachemire Portfolio AEDTA