Picture Details
Baghban, a gardener making a jasmine garland
Partner:
British LibraryImage reference:
BL.Add.27255.f.231vOrigin:
North, IndiaArtist / Date:
Unknown, 1825Description:
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Jasmine flowers are usually white, though some of the 300 varieties are yellow flowered. Often sweetly scented, they are enjoyed in the Indian garden and strings of the flowers are worn by women in their hair, particularly in south India where they are adornments for daily use. Jasmine is sacred to the god Vishnu and symbolises sweetness, beauty and happiness. The painting is from the Tashrih-al-aqam, a manuscript in Persian detailing the origins and occupations of some of the sects, castes and tribes of India. It was compiled for the famous soldier of fortune of mixed race, Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841), who raised Skinner's Horse in India in 1803. A gardener is threading jasmine flowers to make a garland, perhaps for offerings to the household deity, or to garland the bride and groom at a wedding, or to welcome important guests. In India there are plenty of joyous occasions when flower garlands are used to wreathe people and objects. They also mark solemn events when they decorate funeral biers.
