Reign of the Paisley
These images show the paisley in its most familiar form. A far cry from the lotuses, floral imagery, and cypresses that its design can be traced to, this paisley consists of a rounded, bulging base, with a tapered swirl at the top. Sometimes, it is recognized Indian audiences as a motif relating to the mango, considered the Raja of the fruit kingdom—it is unclear which emerged first. Often, the lack of contour lines delineating the edges of the paisley, meant that it became a sort of bubble, encompassing various other motifs and patterns. Instead of grounding paisleys in a larger environment (as with the earlier cypress piece), it existed almost entirely as a design element: to be peppered throughout a work or to border it. This is then mirrored in the introduction of almost shapeless curved, curled, tapered, or jagged forms that were repeated throughout to imply a pattern without necessarily having to have recognizable imagery throughout a work.