Design

This is a design for a mat to be manufactured from coir, the coarse fibre found between the husk and the outer shell of the coconut. The raw material had been used for centuries in the East, but only in the late 19th century did it begin to established its presence in the West often as a household product such as a mat. Initially, European business men set up businesses in Kerala, India, centred around the town of Alleppey.

It is likely that this design was created in the 1920s or early 1930s possibly by a company set up by native entrepreneurs in Alleppey or by European designers in London. The object draws on the Western styles of the period, using Art Deco motifs, and thus seems to have been designed for a European or an American market. At the same time, there is an overt Oriental influence. The group of designs to which it belongs makes frequent use of figurative botanical motifs, multiple wavy lines and flecks which differentiates it from classic Art Deco designs of the period.