Baramasa (or songs of the twelve months) is a poetic genre describing each of the months of the Indian calendar in the context of love and its rhetoric. The artist’s love for landscape is evident in this painting – through the depiction of courtyards, trees, water bodies for sacred baths, and the celestial light. An example of bolsters and cushions can be seen in this miniature painting of the 18th century – long, narrow pillows covered in luxurious silk or similar material, thrown over the carpeted flooring of what appears to be a courtyard. Also known as gadda takiya, bolsters and cushions at times, serve as mere decorative elements.

In 2013, Delhi-based designer Gunjan Gupta would conceive the idea of the Bori Sofa -- a case in point of contemporary furnishing that aptly captures the nuances of ‘everyday India’. Gupta would draw inspiration from a typical Indian warehouse, often found packed with jute sacks stacked over one another. This example of sculptural furniture involves bundled-up boris (gunny bags) made out of a jute-linen mix of varying shapes and sizes propped against each other to create a composite sofa seat, and melds local craft with global design.

From the collection of the CSMVS