Rare Paintings
 9 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Brahmans of Oudh and the North West Provinces from 1st and 3rd Brahmans, 1908 (c).

Watercolour by Major Alfred Crowdy Lovett (1862-1919), 1908 (c).

A subadar stands at the front while behind him two sepoys in dress and active service uniform can be seen. The Indian soldiers of this unit came fr... Read More
 9 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Risaldar-Major of 14th Murray's Jat Lancers, 1909.

Watercolour by Major Alfred Crowdy Lovett (1862-1919), 1909.

The Risaldar-Major, the most senior Indian officer of his regiment, rides at the head of a troop with sword drawn. His regiment was originally raised in 1857 as The Jat Horse Yeomanry... Read More
 9 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Sowars of the former 'Hyderabad Contingent' Cavalry, 1910.

Watercolour by Major Alfred Crowdy Lovett (1862-1919), 1910.

These sowars include a mounted Jat Lance Daffadar of the 30th Lancers (Gordon's Horse), a Sikh of the 20th Deccan Horse and a Dekhani Musalman Risaldar of the 29th Lancers (De... Read More
 9 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
'Punjabi Musalman subadar and sepoys of the 33rd Punjabis', 1908 (c).

Watercolour by Major Alfred Crowdy Lovett (1862-1919), 1908 (c).

Half of the men in the 33rd were Punjabi Musalmans (Muslims), the remainder of the regiment being recruited from Pathans and Sikhs (two companies each). In July... Read More
 3 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Chromolithograph pictorial label used for the advertisement and sale of bales of cloth and individual fabric lengths; printed on paper. Durgā, portrayed with ten arms, is standing on the head of the Mahiṣa, the buffalo demon.

20thC(early)
Designed in: India
Printed in Britain for export to India... Read More
 3 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Seated portrait of Devi, the Great Goddess, showing her eight arms bearing attributes of her divine powers - the conch, goad, lotus, discus, shield, mace, banner, and the sword. The goddess is depicted in a palace setting, is nimbate, and seated on a lotus seat on a hexagonal golden throne with a... Read More
 2 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Goddess Durga Slaying the Demon Nishumbha
Folio from a Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess)
India, Rajasthan, Jaipur, circa 1825-1850
Opaque watercolor, gold, silver, and ink on paper

Credit: Los Angeles County Museum of Art Read More
 1 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
The Gods adoring Durga after Her defeat of a demon
Folio from a Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess)
India, Madhya Pradesh, Chatarpur (Bundelkhand), circa 1775

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Image credit: Los Angeles County Museum of Art Read More
 1 Oct 2016 Rare Paintings
Religious Procession: Durga
India, West Bengal, Murshidabad, circa 1800
Opaque watercolor on mica

Image credit: Los Angeles County Museum of Art Read More
 5 Sep 2016 Rare Paintings
Ganesha in Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan representations of Ganesha show ambivalent views of him. In one Tibetan form he is shown being trodden under foot by Mahākala, a popular Tibetan deity. Other depictions show him as the Destroyer of Obstacles, sometimes dancing.

Ganapati, Maha Rakta (Tibetan: ... Read More
 5 Sep 2016 Rare Paintings
Ganesha

This is one of 12 miniatures from a manuscript of Hindu rituals and devotional tracts. The manuscript is written in the Sanskrit language, in Sarada script. It has 74 pages and was made in Kashmir during the 18th century.

Text and image credit:
Copyright © The British Library Board Read More
 5 Sep 2016 Rare Paintings
Verandah of the Ganesha Gumpha - 1839

This is plate 3 from James Fergusson's 'Illustrations of the Rock Cut Temples of India'. The Ganeshagumpha is one of the best known of the 2000 year-old sandstone Jain caves of Udayagiri in Orissa. It consists of two cells with four doorways opening on to a ... Read More
 8 Aug 2016 Rare Paintings
South View of Bangalore - 1792

Ink wash drawing made of a south view of Bangalore with the fortress in the distance by Robert Home (1752-1834) in 1792. It is part of a series of 22 loose drawings together with a map and three plans completed by Home when he accompanied the British army under Cor... Read More
 8 Aug 2016 Rare Paintings
North view of Bangalore from the pettah, shewing the curtain and bastions that were breached - 1792

Etching with line-engraving of a north view of Bangalore from the Pettah by Burnet Reading after sketches Robert Home (1752-1834) had made when he had accompanied the troops in Lord Cornwallis's c... Read More
 8 Aug 2016 Rare Paintings
East View of Bangalore with the Cypress Garden (Lal Bagh) - 1792

Wash drawing showing Bangalore with the Cypress Garden by Robert Home (1752-1834) in 1792. This is one of a series of 22 loose drawings together with a map and three plans completed by Home when he accompanied the British army unde... Read More
 6 Aug 2016 Rare Paintings
View of Bombay, from Malabar Hills, with the Island of Caranjah and part of the Indian Continent in the distance - 1813

Plate twenty-two from the first volume of James Forbes'"Oriental Memoirs". Forbes(1749-1819)had arrived in Bombay in 1766 and spent eighteen years of his working-life in this r... Read More
 6 Aug 2016 Rare Paintings
A Distant View of the Temple at Alla Bhaugh, with different natives in the Concan - 1813

Plate 26 from the first volume of James Forbes'"Oriental Memoirs", a work in the form of a series of letters richly illustrated, describing various aspects of nature, people and buildings he met with during ... Read More
 6 Aug 2016 Rare Paintings
A Mohamedan youth of distinction - 1813

Plate eighteen from the first volume of James Forbes' "Oriental Memoirs", a work based on copious notes and drawings made during his travels in India between the 1770s-80s. Forbes(1749-1819)spent most of his working life in Western India, particularly in G... Read More
 29 Jul 2016 Rare Paintings
Jain cosmological mandala: plan of Adhaidvipa; Gujarat, 19th century.

Jain cosmological mandala: plan of Adhaidvipa, or the two and a half continents where mortals dwell. In Jain cosmography the universe is divided into three kingdoms: the upper, occupied by the celestials; the middle, by the mo... Read More
 29 Jul 2016 Rare Paintings
Jambudvipa - Jain painting of the mortal realms of the universe

Painting on cotton
Deshnok, Rajasthan, dated 1844

In the Jain conception of the universe, between the heavens above and hells below is the middle world where mortals dwell, the only part of the universe from which the soul can ach... Read More
 24 Jul 2016 Rare Paintings
The wedding procession of Prince Dara Shikoh

DescriptionPainting on both sides of paper. Recto: Prince Dara Shikoh rides on a white horse clad in patterned gold jama, gold and orange patka and gold turban. An attendant with morchal follows on foot behind. This is the procession of Dara Shikoh's ... Read More