Rare Paintings
 22 Jun 2017 Rare Paintings
Drawings depicting sculpture from Somnathpur - 1853
Wash drawing by Murugesa Moodaliar

Wash drawing by an Indian draftsman, Murugesa Moodaliar, of two Hoysala sculptures from Karnataka with measurements; signed:' P. Mooroogasa Moodr', dated c.1853.

The Hoysala was a very powerful dynasty that r... Read More
 16 Jun 2017 Rare Paintings
Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur - 1785

Watercolour of the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur with a tank in the foreground, by Elisha Trapaud (1750-1828), c.1785.

Thanjavur was established and used by the Chola rulers in the 9th-12th centuries; it later became a Nayaka stronghold in the 16th-1... Read More
 9 Jun 2017 Rare Paintings
Krishṇa lifting up Mount Govardhan.
The cowherd god is depicted effortlessly lifting up the mountain to shelter his followers from the storm of the god Indra, seen in the upper right of the painting on his elephant mount, Airavata.

Gouache painting on paper.
Painted by Ustad Sahibdin
Bikaner... Read More
 9 Jun 2017 Rare Paintings
A cow supporting the weight of the earth on its horns.

Gouache painting on paper.
Bikaner Style
Rajasthan School

1700-1720 (circa)

Image credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 9 May 2017 Rare Paintings
An illustration from an avatar series:
Narasimha disembowls Hiranyakashipu

Hyderabad, circa 1800
Opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper.

The split silver pillar disrupts an otherwise perfect symmetry, adding a sense of movement behind the brilliant gold avatar. His delightful grin betrays... Read More
 9 May 2017 Rare Paintings
Hiranyakashipu brandishes his sword at a burning pillar concealing Narasimha

Kangra, 1810-1820

With a pile of hot coals set around the base of the column, two demons work bellows to intensify the heat and flames. On the left another demon escorts Prahlada, carrying a writing slate under his arm... Read More
 3 May 2017 Rare Paintings
Opaque watercolour painting of the shrine of Shri Ranganathasvami at the core of the Srirangam complex. The image, on the golden roof of the main shrine, is of Viṣṇu Paravasudeva. At the gate of the inner sanctuary are two Dvarapalas (door guardians), Bhadra and Subhadra; near them are two empty ... Read More
 3 May 2017 Rare Paintings
Fort and bridge between Trichinopoly and Srirangam -1850

Painting in gouache on mica of the rock, fort and bridge between Trichinopoly (Tiruchchirappalli) and Srirangam, by an anonymous artist working in the Trichinopoly style, c. 1850. Inscribed: 'A Temple on a Hill and a Bridge near to Trichin... Read More
 3 May 2017 Rare Paintings
Painting depicting a Vaisnava temple procession ca.1820, in South India. Possibly from Srirangam. The temple gopurams (or towering gateways) are seen in the background as the lively procession passes outside the temple wall. Visnu's Sankha and Chakra are held up in the middle of the procession al... Read More
 2 May 2017 Rare Paintings
Nammalvar sits in lalitasana on a platform. His complexion is blue, he wears a headdress, the chayakkontai, and Tengalai namams (emblems) are drawn on his forehead throat, arms and stomach. His jewellery is made of Kamalakshi beads. His right hand is in the teaching gesture and in his left he ho... Read More
 21 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
The Proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India at the Imperial Durbar at Delhi on 1 January 1877.

Source: Alamy Read More
 18 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
A View From The King's Barracks, Fort St. George, Madras - 1804

Plate two from '24 Views in Indostan by William Orme'. This aquatint was prepared Richard Bankes Harraden (1778-1862) after an original by Francis Swaine Ward (1736-94). Fort St. George was established by the British East India Comp... Read More
 14 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 's journey to Delhi

Ghulam Ahmad went to Delhi, which was at the time considered a centre of religious learning and home to many prominent religious leaders, in 1891, with the intention of distinguishing what he believed to be the truth from falsehood. He published an advertis... Read More
 12 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Procession réligieuse dans les galeries du couvent de Ramisseram près de Ceylan - June 1841

Lithograph of a religious procession inside the Ramalingeshwara Temple at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu near Sri Lanka by L.H. de Rudder (1807-1881) after the original drawing of June 1841 by Prince Aleksandr... Read More
 12 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Temple at Rameswaram - 1809

This aquatint was taken from plate 9 of Salt's 'Twenty Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt'. Viscount Valentia, George Annesley described this temple at Rameshvaram (in Tamil Nadu) as: "one of the most sacred and most sp... Read More
 12 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
A cavern on the summit of Mt. Jetting, Rameswaram - December 1800

Pen-and-ink and water-colour drawing of a cavern on the summit of Mt. Jetting, Rameswaram by Colin MacKenzie (1754-1821) dated December 1800.

Inscribed on the front in ink is: 'A Cavern on the Summit of the Mountain of Jetting -... Read More
 11 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Rama, Sita, and Hanuman

Watercolour and gilt on paper
18th century AD
India

Image credit:
By permission of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Read More
 10 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Painting of the Ghats on the banks of the river Jumna, Mathura - 1865
By William Simpson

Watercolour on paper

The scene depicts the ghats on the bank of the River Jumna, Mathura (U.P). It includes the quadrangular tower, the San Burj built in in the 16th century, which commemorates the Raja o... Read More
 7 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Watercolour painting on paper of Marichi, a Rishi and son of Brahma. He is shown standing in a flat landscape. He wears a red dhoti with a gold shawl tied over his chest. He wears wooden sandals and holds a walking stick in his right hand. In his left hand he holds a pot. A long string of beads h... Read More
 7 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Watercolour painting on paper of Angiras, a Vedic Rishi. He is shown wearing a yellow dhoti with matching shawl draped over his shoulder. He wears wooden sandals on his feet and has two strings of beads around his neck. He holds a walking stick in his right hand and a bunch of grass. In his left ... Read More
 2 Apr 2017 Rare Paintings
Sikh Railway Train - 1870
Lahore

A Railway Train in two sections. The upper has four coaches with men and women passengers, Sikh and British. The lower has two coaches and an engine. The train is symbolic of the new Punjab. Railways reached the Punjab in the early 1860's and the Sikhs had been c... Read More