Plate Eleven
Length: 130 inches
Width: 56 inches
Warp: 224 per inch
Weft: 192 per inch
Collection: Bharat Kala Bhavan
Condition: Complete

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The designer of this shawl successfully mastered the soon-to-be typical style of shawl patterning prevalent at the end of the 18th century. This crowded drawing style is often visually disconcerting but here the designer achieved a handsome and impressive result. Only twoflowers and not the usual profusion of blooms appear but the designer presents them from different angles endowing this plant with an interesting almost cubistic perspective.

Again this shawl repeats typical elements of the Classic Period, particularly the choice of flowers - the sunflower from Plate Two (fig.36) and the rose (fig.37) from Plate Five. The juxtaposition picturing them from different angles adds a new twist to these often reproduced blooms. Another nice touch is iconic addition of white spots placed on the bi-colored leaves and red spots on the hillock. The spot as an icon has a history stretching back into the Palaeolithic Period when it is believed to have been used to mimic those found on wild animal pelts.