Call of the Wild

Eliya - Elephant

Royal watching can be quite a delight, when you are fortunate enough to have caught sight of the grace, charm and dignity of a royal.

Eliya, which means Elephant in Sinhalese, is the first design created for this new collection, and is very much a royal and revered animal indeed! Imagine coming close to majestic walls, tipped with gold, of a Maharaja's palace, where you sneak a peak into the splendid palace grounds and it's royal animals that roam peacefully. Pushing carefully aside large leaves of the luscious foliage, stylised in Lotus's adopted creeper work, bordering the outskirts, to reveal a magnificent creature standing in all his regal splendour.

The Kings own favourite pet elephant, Eliya, is adorned here in rich ceremonious ornate silks, gold and precious jewels. Ivory white tusks gleam with three decorative gold bands, showing his place as the Maharaja's prize gentle giant. He wanders in his special reserve, grazing upon coconut leaves, and many delicious treats of the royal park. The Elephant signifies qualities such as patience, wisdom and chastity. Also, because of it's size and strength, the elephant symbolizes power and according to Buddhist tradition, a white elephant is the symbol of royalty.

So for those with a taste for regal things, here's a very tasteful design to grace your home (or palace!), adding a touch of royalty and splendour.

An African look lends inspiration to the spirit of these great cats of the jungle. The design name, in French, translates as "The Twin Leopards".

Here they are depicted comfortably resting, watching in vigil upon high branches of jungle trees, that offer coolness from the African heat, with dazzling African blue skies overhead, as seen in the background. The Leopard is considered as the Great Watcher, due to their spots resembling many eyes. They symbolize courage and untamed instincts, and in African culture, the Leopard is revered as a creature that represents the light of the morning sun. Aptly considered so, as this big cat can certainly run with the speed of light, when in pursuit of it's prey!

Bright, but subtly variegated shades of red and vermilion, blanket beneath a bold pattern of elegant stripes and white pearl-like dots, that create the border. Contrasting in the border design are corner seals, using geometrical shapes of diamond-squares and triangles, impressing the border's entirety with an African art style. Leopard skins are commonly known to denote royalty, and were, and are still worn by African royalty, and additionally worn to ward off danger.

This design portrays the leopard's natural grace and beauty, poised in a colourful and vibrant setting, bringing a little of the wild indoors.

Laelaps - Canis Major

Lotus Sunrise borrows a touch of Greek art in this design. Revering a creature of the wild, capable of great obedience, when trained. Man’s loyal companion, was immortalized in the heavens by the ancient Greeks, in the constellation Canis Major (The Great Dog).

An elegant great canine is styled here with a shiny coat and poised with an intelligent look. Wearing a golden collar with a bejewelled enhancer, perhaps awarded to him, by Zeus himself. A dreamy sapphire sky at dusk, peppered with the first appearing twinkling stars of the evening, lends itself as a backdrop.

Grecian style ivy, associated with immortality, decorates the upper part of the circular design. The artist mixes the ivy with deep red lotus blossoms, creating a fantasy look. Motifs of Laelaps' jeweled pendant, flank the outer corners of the frame, which encases a flood of sun -like brilliance of whirling, vibrant yellow- orange shades.

According to mythology, Laelaps was a dog that could outrun anything it pursued. However, it met its match eventually when Laelaps encountered a fox that ran even faster then him. It seemed the great dog and the fox would race each other eternally, and so Zeus intervened turning them both into stone, and placing them in the sky among the stars. Canis Major is just one of Orion's (the great hunter) canine celestial companions.

A very proud and imperial peacock graces the fourth composition in this collection. With all his feathers in full plume, and wings aflutter, he holds a lovely exotic bloom in his beak, as the flower and it's leaves trail down delicately behind him.

A simple form of inspired Moroccan patterns, in cool turquoise and passionate magenta, that one might see in homes and beautiful courtyards in Marrakech, create the borders. Named also after a constellation, Pavo, the peacock was introduced at the end of the 16th century by Dutch navigators. Pavo is one of several celestial birds in the same area of the southern night sky, which include Tucana, Grus, Apus, and Phoenix.

Greek Mythology associates the peacock as sacred to the Goddess of the heavens, Hera. It is said that from Hera's breast, the Milky Way was created. Hera assigned a creature with a hundred eyes called Agros, to keep vigil over a white heifer, which she had figured her husband Zeus had turned one of his lovers, the nymph Io, into. Having discovered his wife's ploy, Zeus requested Hermes to slay the Agros, and release the heifer. Hera then placed the hundred eyes of the Agros upon the tail of the peacock.

Often the peacock is also associated with royalty too, and is a beautiful sight to see tame ones strutting about a spacious garden. One can't help, but feel admiration for their brilliant feathers and colour! A majestic design to bring exotic opulence to any home.