Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/276

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172
THE ARTS OF THE NEWARS

received more ornate treatment in the history of art, and in the decoration of this single feature the Newar has proved himself a versatile designer and a finished craftsman. To add to its richness, he has also devoted his cunning to devising innumerable patterns of lattice-work with which to fill in the open space of the window, and a study of these alone is a field in itself. The screen-like effect is obtained by dovetailing together small pieces of wood, and the variety of combinations produced by the Nepal workman is endless. It is, of course, the mushrebiyeh of Cairo and the pinjra of the Punjab, but the patterns in the windows of the Newar houses are considerably more elaborate than those designed by the Arab or the Sikh. This very attractive form of window screen, enabling the occupant to "see and not to be seen," is ordinarily supposed to have been invented by the Mussulman, with a view to securing air combined with privacy in his zenana, but the exuberance of this lattice-work in Nepal indicates its possible origin in a country where the Crescent was never carried. Owing to the