Inside the Story · No. 05 · Friday 2 October 2026 · Folklore · South Asia

The Tortoise Ferries the Monkey

A flower taller than the trees.

The inside story of a design inspired by a 16th-century fable painting attributed to Gujarat.

"The Tortoise Ferries the Monkey", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The source

"The Tortoise Ferries the Monkey", Folio from a Kalila wa DimnaInk and opaque watercolor on paper · Attributed to India, Gujarat (probably based on an Egyptian original), second quarter 16th century (1525 to 1550) · Overall H. 31.8 cm, W. 22.6 cm; average text size H. 21.9 cm, W. 12.4 cmThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · "The Tortoise Ferries the Monkey", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna, attributed to Gujarat, India, second quarter 16th century. The Met, The Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Alice Heeramaneck, 1981 (1981.373.76). Public domain (CC0). · object 1981.373.76 · public_domainView at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ↗

Kalila wa Dimna is the Arabic telling of the Panchatantra, the Indian book of animal fables, translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa around 750 CE. In its monkey chapter the crocodile of the Indian version is a tortoise: it ferries the monkey across the water on its back, meaning to take his heart (in the Indian telling, the crocodile's wife wants it). The monkey escapes.

What we saw

Five parts, traced from the photograph

1The giant flowerFirst, the flower. Taller than the trees: five petals, vermilion and madder, on a black knot and a single stem.

2The tree clumpOn the right, a clump of pointed crowns, cypress-like, green, olive and slate, each outlined in ink.

3The tortoise's shellUnder the monkey, the shell. A vermilion frame around six dark plates, and a fringe of four lobes below.

4The waterBelow, the water. A slate band, straight along the horizon, its lower edge a hand-drawn wave.

5The burnt-orange groundAnd behind everything, the ground. Burnt orange, the colour the whole page is lit by.

5 prints, each from a different part

Each print starts from a part of the source

From this partThe giant flower

Print 1 · Buta

Flower Buta

What if the flower that towers over the trees became the pallu?

Petal for petal, as painted, in a close drop repeat.

Repeat: Half drop repeat · tile 638 × 691 px · 10.8 × 11.7 cm
Made for: Surat and Jaipur ethnicwear process houses for festive kurtas; boutique ethnic labels
Why it sells: An 11 cm upright buta on a 10.8 x 11.7 cm drop repeat in four warm colours reads as a classic festive buta at kurta scale, and the flat colour suits screen or rotary.

Women's kurta and saree body110 cm width4 colours (burnt-orange groundvermilionmadderink)pigment or discharge print on cotton or rayonFour colours

From this partThe tree clump

Print 2 · Stripe

Tree Stripe

Then the trees at the edge of the picture.

The clump, crown for crown, stacked into a stripe on its own orange ground.

Repeat: Stripe repeat · tile 949 × 753 px · 16.1 × 12.8 cm
Made for: Menswear ethnic brands (Diwali kurta sets); hand-block-look labels
Why it sells: Tree columns every 8 cm with a half drop make a quiet vertical stripe that lengthens the body; muted greens on burnt orange keep it festive but not loud.

Men's and women's kurta110 cm width9 colours (four crown greenstrunkinkburnt orangepaperdeep-orange rule)rotary print on cotton or viscoseNine colours

From this partThe tortoise's shell

Print 3 · All-over

Shell Scale

And the shell that carried the monkey across.

Six plates in a vermilion frame, four lobes below, nesting like scales.

Repeat: Half drop repeat · tile 603 × 452 px · 10.2 × 7.7 cm
Made for: Surat and Ahmedabad dress-material wholesalers; export womenswear buyers looking for small-scale conversationals
Why it sells: 7 cm shells nesting on a 10.2 x 7.7 cm brick make a dense scale texture that reads all-over at arm's length and cuts well for small garments.

Women's dress material and co-ords110 to 140 cm width6 colours (5 shell colours on a paper ground)rotary or digital on rayon or crepeSix colours

From this partThe water

Print 4 · Border

River Border

The water, at the bottom of the page.

The painter's own wave becomes the edge of a dupatta.

Repeat: Border repeat · tile 1568 × 1300 px · 26.6 × 22 cm
Made for: Surat saree and dupatta process houses; ethnic-set brands matching a printed border to a plain or buta body (pairs with A)
Why it sells: A 26.6 cm horizontal repeat of the painted wave with orange rules gives a calm, rhythmic border in the same palette as the buta and shell prints.

Dupatta or saree bordera 22 cm deep band along the selvedge6 coloursscreen or rotary on georgette or cottonSix colours

From this partThe burnt-orange ground

Print 5 · Stripe

Burnt-Orange Palette Stripe

And the colour that holds the whole page together.

Every colour on the page, in one stripe. Burnt orange leads.

Repeat: Stripe repeat · tile 1124 × 1124 px · 19 × 19 cm
Made for: Ethnic co-ord brands building a set around A to D; stripe programmes for blouses
Why it sells: A 19 cm stripe unit carrying every colour on the page ties the set together; burnt orange leads, so it reads festive and matches the other four.

Kurtablouse or dupatta coordinate stripe110 cm width9 coloursprint or yarn-dye lookNine colours

The palette

Every colour here was already in the source.

#D2814ABurnt-orange ground · from the source

#C8663AVermilion · from the source

#994333Madder · from the source

#CE9C5BTortoise ochre · from the source

#5A5F55Tree green · from the source

#99825AOlive crown · from the source

#655F58River slate · from the source

#443731Ink · from the source

#DCBB9CPaper · from the source

Why now

A page attributed to Gujarat, for the Gujarat and Surat trade, ahead of Diwali on 8 November 2026.

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Source: "The Tortoise Ferries the Monkey", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna, Attributed to India, Gujarat (probably based on an Egyptian original), second quarter 16th century (1525 to 1550), Ink and opaque watercolor on paper. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "The Tortoise Ferries the Monkey", Folio from a Kalila wa Dimna, attributed to Gujarat, India, second quarter 16th century. The Met, The Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Alice Heeramaneck, 1981 (1981.373.76). Public domain (CC0)., object 1981.373.76. public_domain. View the object.

Facts from: metmuseum.org, en.wikipedia.org.