Hanging of painted kalamkari cotton. 18th century. Victoria & Albert Museum.
Palampore of painted and dyed cotton chintz, probably for Dutch/Sri Lankan market. 1720—1750. Victoria & Albert Museum.
Cotton chintz, mordant- and resist-dyed with areas of over-painting, for western market. 1700—1725. Victoria & Albert Museum.
Palampore of painted and dyed cotton chintz, for western market. 1750—1775. Victoria & Albert Museum.
Palampore in four parts, including two border fragments and a side panel. late 18th—early 19th century. Victoria & Albert Museum.
Palampore of painted and dyed cotton chintz, of Chinese trees. 1775—1800. Victoria & Albert Museum.

viii. The Tree of Life Motif

“Beyond market-based adaptations, floral designs were also customized according to a textile’s purpose. Large hanging textiles…popularly featured a single flowering tree…rooted in a stylized base at the centre of the cloth with blooms branching off the main trunk” (Fotheringham, 49). Here, Fotheringham refers to what is often called the Tree of Life. It is a lush, visually complicated culmination of motifs—floral and faunal—and technique. As Jain describes, the “monumental, imaginary trees…[represented a] fusion of Indian, European, and Chinese motifs…[which] resembled wild and colourful under-sea organisms” (154). Often, these motifs strike a precarious balance between overwhelming and rejuvenating the audience with their wild, blooming designs and vividly saturated palettes. These patterns would adorn the interiors of a house or take their places on women’s garments.

Often, the trees would be flanked by creatures such as peacocks, or the elegant hamsas (swans), which evoked the image of paradise. This resonated strongly with the Islamic conception of heaven, which “is symbolized by a lush green garden full of exuberant flowers” (Fotheringham, 40). The swirling, curvaceous forms created an upward rhythm to guide the viewer’s eye and ostensibly to inject a note of expansiveness within a wall tapestry. The agile, dexterous motion of the block printer’s hand in carving the print translates into light, fine lines that seem invisible at first; the overall effect is that the motifs seem suspended, weightless, in the air, creating a compelling combination of graphic expressiveness and naturalism. Indeed, “the tree is expertly fitted into its unnatural rectangular confines” (Jain, 154).