Monday, July 29, 2024

 




Rare Paintings
 17 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
Miniature. “A Group of Recruits to Skinner’s Horse regiment”
India, Delhi; 1815-1816

The leaf comes from one of the famous Fraser albums, with miniatures commissioned by the two Scottish brothers William and James Fraser. The motif shows some of the Indian recruits for the Second Regiment of Ski... Read More
 17 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
Two miniatures. “Kala with Saber Drawn” and “Kala in Uniform”
India, Delhi; 1815-1816

Two groups of Company paintings in particular have become famous: the c. 300 botanical and zoological studies that were commissioned by Lady Mary Impey in around 1780, and the c. 100 paintings of native troops ... Read More
 12 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
View from Malabar Hill - 1800

This is plate 3 from James Wales' 'Bombay Views'. The series was painted for Sir Charles Malet (1752-1815), the British Resident of Poona, who Wales met in Bombay in 1791.

The panoramic view (continued on plate 4) was taken across the Back Bay and includes the Flag... Read More
 12 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
View of Bombay Harbour - 1800

This is plate 1 from James Wales' 'Bombay Views'. The series was painted for Sir Charles Malet (1752-1815), the British Resident of Poona, who met Wales in Bombay in 1791.

The panoramic view (which continues on plate two) depicts the dockyard and fort areas, includ... Read More
 12 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
View of the Breach from Love Grove, Bombay - 1800

This is plate 6 from James Wales' 'Bombay Views'. The series was painted for Sir Charles Malet (1752-1815), the British Resident of Poona, who met Wales in Bombay in 1791.

The view was taken "from the end terminating at Love Grove". The Great Br... Read More
 12 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
View from Belmont, Bombay - 1800

This is plate 9 from James Wales' 'Bombay Views'. The series was painted for Sir Charles Malet (1752-1815), the British Resident of Poona, who Wales met in Bombay in 1791.

The view represents that "part of the Island between the Hill of Belmont and the Breach Wa... Read More
 12 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
The Mahratta Peshwa, and his ministers at Poonah.
Drawn from an original sketch belonging to Sir Charles Malet Bart - 1813

Plate forty-two from the second volume of James Forbes' "Oriental Memoirs". Charles Malet (1752-1815), the Resident of Poona was a close contemporary and a good friend of F... Read More
 12 Jan 2015 Rare Paintings
Image:
Sir Charles Warre Malet, Concluding a Treaty in 1790 in Durbar with the Peshwa of the Maratha Empire - 1805

Malet, of the East India Company, presents a scroll to the Peshwa Madhavrao II, formalising an alliance against another Indian ruler, Tipu Sultan of Mysore. The painting was commiss... Read More
 14 Dec 2014 Rare Paintings
Raja Balwant Singh revering Krishna and Radha
Attributed to Nainsukh
(active ca. 1735–78)
ca. 1745–50
Jasrota, Himachal Pradesh
Opaque watercolor, ink, silver and gold on paper

In this intensely personal image of a devotee, Balwant Singh stands in veneration of a vision of Krishna and Radha ent... Read More
 14 Dec 2014 Rare Paintings
“Thakur Dawlat Singh Among Courtiers”
India, Delhi; c. 1825
Miniature: 27.6 × 38.5 cm

European influence on Indian painting was tangible from the 16th century, but at the end of the 18th, it became even more pronounced. French and British tradesmen and civil servants commissioned work directly f... Read More
 16 Nov 2014 Rare Paintings
King Dasaratha finds Queen Kaikeyi collapsed on a tile floor. This represents a scene from the Ramayana where Kaikeyi demands that Dasaratha vanquish Rama from Ayodhya, and is a print from a Raja Ravi Varma oil painting.

Album of popular prints mounted on cloth pages. Colour oleograph, lettered,... Read More
 13 Nov 2014 Rare Paintings
Rama and Lakshmana overwhelmed by arrows: Folio from a Ramayana 'Siege of Lanka' Series
Attributed to Manaku
(active ca. 1725–60)
ca. 1725
India (Guler, Himachal Pradesh)
Ink on paper

"Rendering himself invisible by virtue of the boon he received from Brahma, [Indrajit, the son of Ravana] . . .... Read More
 4 Nov 2014 Rare Paintings
Kaikeyi and Manthara - 1906
From a signed and dated painting by B.P. Banerjee.

The Kaikeyi and Manthara episode in the Ramayana.
Printing inks on paper. Inscribed.
Producer nameMade by: B P Banerjee biography
Printed in: Germany

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 4 Nov 2014 Rare Paintings
Rama and Lakshmana ferried in a riverboat: An illustration to a Ramayana series
Calcutta, circa 1860

Opaque watercolour on European blue tinted paper watermarked with the date 1860, framed.

Rama and Laskhmana are seated with two sages and a wealthy merchant on a narrow riverboat. This story, w... Read More
 4 Nov 2014 Rare Paintings
Two female devotees worshipping the tulsi plant.

Gouache painting on paper.
Pahari School
Guler Style
1750 (circa)
Panjab Hills

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 2 Nov 2014 Rare Paintings
A Prince visits the poet Tulsidas
ca. 1700-1710

Sisodia dynasty
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Udaipur, Mewar, India

The lower part of this painting depcits Muazzam Shah Alam, a Mughal prince, visiting Tulsidas, the poet and saint who authored a 16th-century version of the Ramayana (Stor... Read More
 6 Oct 2014 Rare Paintings
Article:
The Greatest Ancient Picture Gallery
By William Dalrymple
Published in The New York Review of Books - October 2014

In the winter of 1844, Major Robert Gill, a young British military draftsman, set off from Madras into the independent princely state of Hyderabad to record a major new arc... Read More
 3 Oct 2014 Rare Paintings
A Durga puja; an image of Durga being carried in a procession.

Painting; gouache on mica
Murshidabad, ca.1800.

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 2 Oct 2014 Rare Paintings
Kali Yantra

At the centre Kali is shown four-armed seated on a demonic figure beneath which lie Śiva and a burning corpse. The five sides of the yantra are in this case made up of female figures. The yantra is set within a lotus.

Painting
Painted on cotton
Bengal School
19th century
India

© T... Read More
 2 Oct 2014 Rare Paintings
AMBIKA

Watercolour painting on paper of a female goddess, possibly Ambika. She is shown with four arms; in her upper left hand she holds a bow and in her lower left hands she holds an ankusha (elephant goad). In her upper right hand she holds a spear and in her lower right hand is a noose. She h... Read More
 2 Oct 2014 Rare Paintings
BHAVANI

Watercolour painting on paper of the goddess Bhavani, a ferocious aspect of Pārvatī. She is shown standing on the decapitated body of a dark skinned male who wears a white loincloth. She is fair skinned and wears a red shawl around her waist. She has a translucent golden shawl over her c... Read More