The tradition of Kalamkari involves a printed or painted cotton cloth that were made for many hundreds of years in India and Persia (Iran). Of the various types of Kalamkari, this one - being mostly block-printed of Persian design - would appear to be affiliated with the Masulipatnam School. Many kalamkari's, including this one, were created to be used on the inside walls of temples, sometimes as a prop for religious instruction. This example is very unusual in designwork: the many cartouches involving a variety of Persian script, as well for the depictions of a local version of biblical-type scenes. The cotton cloth is extremely fine, and although the textile is about 10 ft high, it weighs about only 8 oz. Some small areas of corrosion within brown-colored areas, There is some expected loss of the dark brown wool areas. This corrosion could well indicate that nut husks rich in the high acidic tannin were used to produce this deep brown. 51"x 128".