Palampores featuring the Tree of Life motif were one of the most popular textile commodities in the trade between Europe and India. These large-scale hangings and coverlets produced display multiple cross-influences, deriving from Persian, Indian, Chinese, and European sources, that result in highly decorative furnishing fabrics. Introduced into Europe by the English, Dutch and French East India trading companies, Indian painted-and-dyed cottons were immediately successful. Their bright palettes and colorfastness ensured their appeal as Europeans were neither able to spin cotton of the same quality nor had they yet mastered the complex art of dyeing with mordants. This exuberant palampore demonstrates the extraordinary quality of Indian export textiles well into the nineteenth century. Sinuous tree branches laden with exotic flowers and birds sprout from rocky hillocks populated with deer, tigers and other creatures; a border of flowered swags and beribboned tassels reflects a decidedly late eighteenth-century European aesthetic seen in a variety of decorative arts media. Palampores of the 1820s and 1830s were often used to make whole cloth quilts and many can be found in American museum collections. The reverse side bears a stamp from the British East India Company.