Wax resist techniques for embellishing silk can be traced back to India in the second century A.D. and to Java 200 years later where the batik industry flourished. Gutta resist techniques are most likely a more recent development, but probably originated in the Indonesian islands where the pallaquium trees, from which gutta-percha is derived, grow naturally. It's a bit of mystery how silk painting found it's way to Europe, but silk painters from France and Hungary believe their teachers learned the craft in France from members of the Russian czar's family. In the 1920's, hand-painted silk designs began to appear in haute couture of France. It wasn't until the 70's that the secrets of silk painting were revealed to artists in the United States and it has been gaining popularity as a textile art ever since!

Silk Paintings reached their height when India was under Mughul rule during the early 17th-19th century. Mughul kings promoted arts and literature and it is little wonder that many of today's paintings still have a "mughul" style quality to them. The favourite spot for these paintings became the desert kingdoms of Rajasthan and the largest concentration of artists for this type of art can still be found in Rajasthan today.