One tradition at a time.
Every Saffron & Sage line is inspired by a different traditional art form from somewhere in the world: painting, textiles, embroidery, printmaking and more. We name each one, so you can discover the artists behind it.
Gond art
Central India (the Gond communities of Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring regions)
Gond art is a painting tradition of the Gond people, one of India's largest Indigenous communities. Artists fill the outlines of birds, animals and trees with dense fields of fine dots, dashes and lines, so every shape seems to shimmer with movement.
Our first line translates that patterning into stitch-like marks: dashed lines, dots and filled patchwork shapes that look as if they were sewn onto the page.
What to look for
- Shapes filled with rows of dots and short dashes
- Birds, animals and trees as the main subjects
- Bold outlines around each patterned section
- White stitch-like lines running through the colour
The same bird, stitched.
Some designs leap off the page. Our embroidered bookmarks translate an illustration's patterning, stitch for stitch, into thread: dots become French knots of colour, dashes become running stitches, and every patchwork section is filled by needle.
Each bookmark has a bird at both ends of the ribbon, one to mark your page and one to fly free.
How we honour a tradition
We name it
Every line credits the tradition that inspired it, and where it comes from. No anonymous "ethnic" patterns.
We say "inspired by"
Our illustrations borrow a tradition's patterns and spirit. We don't claim to practise the art form itself or to reproduce its sacred or ceremonial designs.
We keep learning
We study each tradition before we draw from it, and aim to learn from the artists who practise it today.
A new tradition with every line.
Each new line is inspired by a different traditional art form from another corner of the world.
Little letters, occasionally.
New cards, first looks and the odd kind word. Never more than we'd want to receive ourselves.