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An exotic debut and a revolution in taste Between the 17th and 19th centuries, painted or printed Indian cotton, known in Europe as indienne, sparked a profound transformation in taste and fashion. These fabrics, such as chintz (from the Indian word chint, meaning variegated or spotted) and calicoes (from Calicut, a city that became synonymous with printed cloth), were at first considered too "ordinary" and used only for bedspreads or to clothe the poorer classes. Yet they so