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Introduction

The Indian Boteh Motif

January 27 - July 30, 2017

The boteh—a stylized floral motif that over several centuries developed into a teardrop-shaped mass of swirling vegetation with a dramatically bent tip—features in contemporary design across the world. This design is often referred to as “paisley,” after the small Scottish town of Paisley, an important 19th-century European center for the production of woolen textiles bearing this motif. The history of the boteh, however, stretches much further back, and much farther afield.

Some scholars theorize that the boteh developed in ancient Near Easten cultures from a wing or leaf form, evolving into a cypress tree or tree of life. Others track its beginning to the image of a single flower flanked by leaves, established in Persian art by the 1600s and soon after blossoming in textiles produced in northern India under the patronage of Mughal emperors. In this display, the evolution of the design is shown in Indian pieces spanning 200 years. Whether originating in leaf or flower, the boteh became more elaborate as it crossed cultures.

Selected Objects

Indian

Ohdani (Woman’s Head Covering), 1800-1850

Indian, Kashmir

Shoulder mantle, mid 1800s

Indian, India

Two Men Conversing on a Balcony, 1700s

Indian Kashmiri, Kashmir

Jamawar Length (Perhaps the Matan of a Shawl), early 1800s

Indian, Kashmir

Chandar (Moon Shawl), ca. 1825

Indian

Shoulder Mantle, 1750-1825

Indian Kashmiri, Kashmir

Shawl, mid 1800s

Indian

Patka (man's sash), late 1600s

Indian

Patka (man's sash), 1750-1800

American

Woman's Coat, ca. 1920

Indian

Patka (man's sash), late 1600s

Indian, Deccan

Bhairavi Ragini, late 1700s

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

The Indian Boteh Motif

January 27 - July 30, 2017
View Checklist PDF

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