In the delineation
of vegetable life the artist was in the height of his form. Combined with a considerable
amount of faithful representation and integrity there is an amount of luxuriance of
decoration and of picturesque arrangement. As floral
ornamentation could be employed for any decorative purpose and any vacant space could be
filled up with such devices, naturally they became varied in form and numerous in numbers.
Of the floral designs, the lotus was by far the
greatest favourite, and it was carv in various forms, in bud, in a half-open state, and in
full-blown flowers. In Deo Parbat there is a beautiful representation of a
cluster of lotuses in full bloom andappears to be issuing from a pond. Another
illustration from the same place exhibits a row of busts with hands holding lotuses; their
patra-kundalas were also designed like full-blown lotuses.
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