Gajraj – The Royal Elephant Inspired By The Rajasthani Traditional Paintings

Gajraj collection captures the integral role elephants had in royal life from hunting to transportation for the nobility; they would also ride the magnificent animals into war. Whilst the wisdom of the elephant is widely respected, so is the supreme air and command they hold of any space they enter. The elephants are considered a symbol of good luck.

The collection is steeped with jewel-toned colours we connect with regal heritage. The omnipresence of the elephants & rolling paisley patterns are backed onto deep purples, crimson reds and shimmering powder blues bordered with decorative motifs. Just as the Rajasthani paintings are encased in a duality of decoration and spirituality, so do our scarf designs.

“Flowers were never merely flowers nor clouds clouds,” wrote W.G. Archer, the colonial administrator turned pioneering Rajput art historian. Instead “the mingling of clouds, rain and lightening symbolized the embraces of lovers.”

Rajasthani painting is a style of miniature painting developed mainly in the independent Hindu state of Rājasthān in western India in the 16th–19th century. It evolved from Western Indian manuscript illustrations, though Mughal influence became evident in the later years of its development. Rājasthānī painting is characterised from its bolder use of colour, an abstract and conventionalized conception of the human figure, and an ornamental treatment of landscape. Traditionally, the paintings are aristocratic, individualistic and strong in portraiture, where the plush court scenes and hunting expedition of royalty are depicted. Flowers and animals are also the recurrent images in the paintings. These paintings were meant to be kept in boxes or albums and to be viewed by passing from hand to hand.