TWO PAGES FROM THE DESIGN BOOK OF THE COURT EMBROIDERERS OF KUTCH. GOUACHE ON PAPER. PHOTO: JIM MASSELOS – TAASA Review March 2013

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This article was originally found in the March 2013 edition of TAASA Review (Volume 22, Issue 1, Page 9).

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When the design book presents embroidered items – topi (hats), skirts (ghagharo), blouses (kapadha), bolsters and cushions, fans, rumal (decorative squares of cloth), umbrellas and ceremonial objects – the pattern relates to the item’s shape.

A rumal has embroidered edges with a dominant central motif and an axis that is often vertical, while a bolster may present a field of butis arranged in orderly rows over the cloth so as to create a sense of fullness and richness.

Skirts may have several rows of motifs: in one instance a row of peacocks and a row of maidens in profile, each with a nose ring...