Batik Sari
Possibly designed by Nandalal Bose or an unnamed artistSantiniketan, India, 1930s–1950s
- Materials & techniques
- Silk, batik; wax resist and dyes
- Collection
- Paromita Biswas
Object details
This batik sari, made between the 1930s and 1950s, reflects the influence of Nandalal Bose and the artistic environment of Santiniketan.
Its precise designer is unknown: the design may have been created by Nandalal himself or by an unnamed artist working in response to his visual language, particularly the Ajanta-inspired murals and paintings developed at Santiniketan.
At the centre of the composition is a tree with expansive, spreading branches, rendered not simply as a naturalistic botanical form but as a distinctive design in itself. The branching structure extends across the textile with a rhythmic quality, transforming the tree into a pictorial and decorative motif. Its treatment recalls the organic forms and flowing lines associated with Nandalal’s engagement with Indian mural traditions and the visual vocabulary of Ajanta.
The sari borders are organised into discrete segments or blocks, each containing foliage and other decorative forms. Rather than following a single continuous border pattern, these framed sections create a sequence of visual units, giving the edges of the sari a measured rhythm and allowing different motifs to coexist within the larger composition.
The sari is significant as an example of how Nandalal Bose’s artistic vocabulary circulated beyond his own works, entering the realm of textile design through imitation, adaptation and reinterpretation. It demonstrates the ways in which the Ajanta-inspired visual language cultivated at Santiniketan could be translated into batik and adapted to the structure of the sari.
