There is a fascinating number of styles during the medieval time period of the SCA on the Indian subcontinent. A bit of information I found that just scratches the surface of what is out there.
– Written recognition of titles and accomplishments is more likely to be on copper plate or stone, because India weather makes it, so most permanent records get put on inorganic materials.
– More iconic for SCA use would be stuff that resembles illustrations – like books or other illumination. Of that we have a bunch of options:
– South India – mostly produces hard, narrow, palm leaves, where the surface is enamel like, and the writing is mostly text.
– North India, pre-Mughal – grows way better palm leaves (different plant) that an actually be drawn on. There’s a LOT of Jain manuscripts of this sort, but also Hindu ones, with some really great images. Imitating the shape / layout of these scrolls but using paper/paints for ease might be a really interesting way to create Indian themed award recognitions. The amount of fine detail in some of these manuscripts is really astounding.
– The Mughal conquest of India (1500s through 1800) – really changes the game entirely. The material includes paper – there’s actual books, and actual book binding, as they are bringing tech from the Middle East with them. There’s also a concept of 3D perspective, and a whole lot more realistic rendering. The tricky spot on this genre is that because the era goes way beyond period, you gotta get into the zone of staring at pictures from 1500-1650ish, as the art really is evolving substantially. Good news is – this is probably the most accessible art style and there is lots of images around
-A great example from the Mughal era is the Hamzanama – the version made by Akbar is a set of gorgeous illustrations made to be viewed at a distance, with text for the storyteller to read on the back, so you hold up the picture and read the story out loud while the audience sees the picture. They are big (~27″X20″) and in insane gorgeous detail.
For museums the V&A in London, the Met in NYC, the MFA Boston all have some interesting pieces.
