Cotton patka (sash), printed and mordant- and resist-dyed, deep border enclosing row of five vertical floral cocksomb sprays. 18th century. Victoria & Albert Museum.
Cotton child-sized patka (sash), printed and mordant- and resist-dyed, featuring meandering floral stem of red blossoms. 18th century. Victoria & Albert Museum.

Stylizations Emerge

In this images, the transformation from the labyrinthian, symmetric visual structure of the lotus roundel to a more heavily stylized cockscomb plant repeat is easily apparent. The vast gaps of negative space starkly diverge from the previous sixteenth to seventeenth-century work. Simultaneously, they act as an imagistic counterpoint to the interwoven lattice-like leaves within the plant, which in turn cohere to a sort of invisible rectangular grid. It appears the internal logic of the lotus has been taken and sectioned off into solitary pieces, for recreation into an ordered design devoid of its overarching construction. Furthermore, the asymmetry of the print manages to both recreate the dynamism and animated quality of the lotus roundel while thwarting the undercurrent of religious appreciation that ran throughout the first work. As Jain summarizes in his reading of the piece, “the naturalism and sensitivity inherited from earlier plant images are perfectly balanced here with greater decorative content,” (2011, 148).