As part of our online interview series for The Textile Museum Journal, contributing scholar Dorothy Armstrong explores two Punjabi carpets and the networks of colonialism and capitalism that influenced their production. Both carpets were made in the final decades of the 19th century but under very different conditions: one in an independent commercial factory and the other in a British government jail. Dr. Armstrong examines these carpets as objects shaped by their makers, as maps of global connections in a time of great change and as reflections of contrasting power dynamics in production.

Through her research, Dr. Armstrong aims to reveal the contentious and conflicting landscape of carpet production in late 19th-century Punjab. She also considers the challenges of studying carpets using a global historical perspective, addressing issues around sources, pre-existing biases and research methods.