The Collection

The story of this piece

A darbar — a royal audience — unfolds across this madder-red ground. Elephants in procession, courtiers in Mughal dress, a central pavilion with the ruler seated. The border carries the smaller scenes that frame the main event. Rukhsana placed the gold tilla accents at the elephant foreheads herself.

A note on the hand. Rukhsana works aari — the hooked needle — and learned tilla from her aunt. She makes the chain-stitch work that travels around the borders of a stole, and the gold-thread bridal pieces that come out of our atelier in winter. She runs a small group of women in her neighbourhood who finish edges and ties.