PLATE SIX
Length: 52 1/2 inches
Width: 7 1/2 inches
Warp: 224 per inch
Weft: 224 per inch
Collection: formerly author; present whereabouts unknown
Condition: almost complete except for some loss to the large open undecorated center diaper

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This Plate introduces the composite drawing style and should be considered its prototype. The extremely realistic draftsmanship and the windblown effect this shawl exhibits are comparable in these respects to Plate Two. However, the multiple flowers this plant displays could never have existed in nature. This aspect is the most obvious hallmark separating an ECP attribution from a LCP one.

This loss was accompanied by another, less obvious one, the disappearance of that almost surreal drawing quality the earliest shawls possess, like the bulb and dart-like root portrayal of Plate One or the windblown-look Plate Two captures. A comparison between examples makes this readily apparent, however, because this shawl is a prototype and fits neatly into the transition point between the ECP and LCP, it is not surprising to find some hints remain. The long leaves and their strange drawing style add that slight otherworldly note to an otherwise brilliant but quite conservative composition.