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43
SAINCHI WITH
PEACOCKS
EAST PUNJAB (NOW HARYANA)
20
TH
CENTURY
Handspun and handwoven cotton,
hand embroidered with untwisted
silk thread, natural dyes
49 x 90.5 in (125 x 230 cm)
$ 6,065 - 9,095
Rs 4,00,000 - 6,00,000
Sainchis
were extremely vivid and
imaginatively composed with
human and geometric figures,
birds and animals, floral and
vegetal patterns, sacred deities
and mythological stories. They
brought in scenes from the daily
lives of women, such as churning
butter or spinning, gathering
for a wedding or playing the
board game,
pachisi
. They were
also derived from depictions of
the veneration of the Mother
Goddess Sainchi, whom the
women of Haryana and East
Punjab revere.
Meticulously composed, the
present lot has a central radiating
sun motif with peacocks
arranged symmetrically around
it. Associated with love, peacocks
are the sign of a woman’s affection
for her family, as a devoted wife
and mother. Towards the centre,
in a scene from the
Ramayana
,
Shravankumar, the devoted
son, is shown carrying his blind
parents on a pilgrimage.