Dr. Gita Sheth moved to Baroda last year and has brought her entire collection with her. Her Bhavnagar contacts continue to bring her invaluable pieces of textile art (often more than 75 to 90 years old), always in impeccable condition, sourced from hundreds of villages in Saurashtra. The beadwork embroidery in her collection is especially noteworthy, these beads often being original Murano-Venetian beads while the silk thread would be from China, the kind rarely found anywhere else in India. Very rarely are two pieces ever the same or even similar. Amongst the most stunning pieces in her collection are the Dancing Ganesha, an unusual Caravan of Camels (embroidered by a Kanbi woman), geometrical Chakando, a Tree of Life embroidered in Chinese silk thread, a fabulous Jagganathji from the Dwarka region, Chaklas with pearl Lotuses, Stars and Lines patterns, Four Stars and Katheepas.

After her move to Baroda, Dr. Sheth has also acquired the franchise for Aura Herbal fabrics. These eco-friendly herbal fabrics are 100 % natural and pure, dyed and processed in medicinal herbs. This diversified interest is in a way related to her passion for textile heritage - Herbal Heritage. Aura Herbal Fabrics are dyed with natural products having medicinal value - Myraballam (Harade), Catechu (Kaththa), Pomegranate Rind (Anar Chal), Madder (Majeeth), Castor oil (Arandi tel) and so on. The fabrics are bleached in sunlight, laid out on grass. Mankind has been using herbal dyes for thousands of years and the fact that these colours are fast are testified by the fact that all museum textiles predating 1856 AD are herbally/naturally dyed. Herbal dyes have proven therapeutic values and as the skin is the largest, most absorptive organ in the body, fabrics touching the skin have an important role to play in sustaining the wearer’s health profile.