A woman's block-printed cotton short jacket from Iran's Qajar dynasty. The jacket features long, tapered end sleeves with cut undersides that can be fastened using a series of gilt metal buttons.

The influx of inexpensive British silk and cotton textiles into Iran during the 19th century significantly disrupted and eventually overshadowed local textile production. However, during Mirza Taqi Khan’s brief tenure as First Minister (1848–1851), he implemented a series of state reforms that also aimed at revitalising the domestic textile industry. These included commissioning Iranian workshops to produce new military uniforms and importing industrial machinery along with European instructors to train local makers.

The cotton used for this jacket was machine-woven, then hand-decorated using a traditional block-printing technique in which each colour was applied with individually carved wooden blocks. In Iran, this method is known as qalamkari (pen work), though it is more commonly referred to as chintz in English.