Why 'Phul' became the 'Tarre' of Indian Art
Why 'Phul' became the 'Tarre' of Indian Art
NOW, Mughals were fascinated by three things:
art, gardens and art that showcased their gardens
Below is an anecdote from my Extended Essay from IB Visual Arts on the origin of the Paisley
‘Paisleys’ were seen in Kashmiri shawls which can be seen in seventeenth-century Mughal miniature paintings, where they appear as part of Mughal court dress. In these portraits, the shawls are long and narrow with a shallow band of decoration at each end. The decorated panel consists of rows of slender, naturalistically depicted flowering plants presented against a plain ground and bordered by smaller versions of a similar pattern in a different colour.
This floral motif of Persian influence was fused with 17th-century Mughal art traditions to create a delicate Indo-Persian motif that blended the naturalistic identity of Indian flowers with Islamic abstractionism which is how the ‘paisley’ began to be used in Indian textiles.
Mughal emperor Jahangir described his fascination with the natural flowers of the Kashmir province in his autobiography, The Jahangirnama. Mansur, his court painter painted detailed images documenting popular flowers all of which were stylised into designs incorporated in Mughal textiles.
For instance, the image below shows flowers like ‘Narcissus tazetta’, yellow marigolds, white chrysanthemums, a red species tulip, and a small, a plant with a short spike of purple flowers all of which are found in Kashmir Valley. The last two flowers are cleverly seen
cleverly seen in the floral design of the women's trousers and sash. Therefore, it can be understood that the natural flowering motif was a reflection of flowers and plants favoured by Mughal emperors.
The Mughal inclination towards Iranian designs led them to invite artisans to inspire the craftspeople of India. An intricately fluid style permeated into Indian textiles by curving the stalks of the flowers and leaves and stylising the flowering plant into a teardrop-shaped ‘paisley’ motif which was traditionally called the ‘boteh’. The floral designs began to become slender and slightly curved towards the tip. Upon interviewing Jagdish Mittal, an artist and personal collector of textiles and miniature paintings about the reason behind the curvilinearity of the motif, he noted “Mughal miniature artists liked to record movement in their subjects be it the sarus crane or even the humble paisley motif. It was as if they were capturing the wind moving the flora.”
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