Important Notice

EAST PUNJAB (NOW HARYANA), CIRCA 1930
Handspun and handwoven cotton, hand embroidered with untwisted silk thread, natural dyes
49 x 95 in (125 x 242 cm)


Sainchi are elaborate pictorial embroideries created by women in Haryana that mirror their life and beliefs, their hopes and desires. Scenes of rural life enrich the composition. In the present lot, the central motif is of the circular lotus that symbolises Surya - the cosmic power. Four figures play the dice game Choupat, connecting it to the Mahabharata. Two long stylised trains run along the length of both edges with eleven compartments, each occupied by a standing figure. Between them are common characters from village life - a woman carrying water, a man riding a horse and a boy flying a kite. Around them are figures of peacocks, a pair of lions, an elephant, a camel and a goat. A lone purple snake alludes to a woman's sensual desires; it is the same colour as the smoke emitting from the fiery engines of the trains that is perhaps carrying her lover away. This lot also depicts two men wrestling - a sport performed during festive occasions, where women yearned for their strong and firm bodies. Above them is a secret labyrinth, perhaps a place where secret rites were practised and celebrated.

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