Art, Sculpture and Treasures of India

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 29 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Brush drawing, Lakshmana preparing meal for Rama and Sita, ink on paper, Kangra, 19th century

Brush drawing in ink on paper, from a charcoal outline transferred from a pinhole stencil, Lakshman is preparing a meal for his brother Rama, and Sita. Lakshman bends over a log fire in rocky, wooded ... Read More
 26 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Painting, Small Clive Album p. 83, ladies feasting and drinking wine, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mughal, early 18th century.

The painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, shows a group of ladies and their female attendants at leisure under an orange awning fixed to a pavili... Read More
 26 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
"Paithan" painting depicting the meeting of Hanumān and Sita in Ravana's garden which is shown as a toddy palm plantation as exists in Andhra Pradesh. The diminutive Hanumān has an extraordinarily long tail wound around the palmyra trees while he talks to Sita.

19th century
Karnataka

© ... Read More
 26 Dec 2013
Wine-ewer made of silver inlaid and engraved steel.

19th century
India

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 17 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
A portrait of Mahaprabha Thampuratti of Mavelikkara, Raja Ravi Varma's daughter holding her daughter H.H. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi who became the Maharani Regent of Travancore - 1893

Title: There Comes Papa.
By Raja Ravi Varma
Location: Kowdiar Palace, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Raja Ravi Varma was m... Read More
 16 Dec 2013
Box, rosewood, Trivandrum, 1898-1905

This rosewood box was made in Travancore (modern-day Kerala). It has mounted plaques of koftgari work. Koftgari is the technique of inlaying pure silver or, less frequently, gold wire, into a steel ground. The designs worked on these plaques represent birds... Read More
 15 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Bhairava, clad in an elephant skin and a tiger's hide, with the goddess Varahi seated on an elephant. He is pictured with his attributes of a drum, a corpse, a trident, a bowl, a stick and a deer in his six hands. The goddess is identified by her attributes of a plough, a sacred tree, an elephant... Read More
 15 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Śiva and Pārvatī with attendants.
Painted on paper

Pahari School
Rajasthan School
Kangra Style

19thC(early)

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 15 Dec 2013 Sculpture
HARIHARA is the name of a combined deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) from the Hindu tradition. Also known as Shankaranarayana ("Shankara" is Shiva, and "Narayana" is Vishnu), Harihara is thus worshipped by both Vaishnavites and Shaivities as a form of the Supreme God, as well as b... Read More
 15 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Ardhanari, Harihara, Cave I, Badami - 1853

Pen-and-ink drawing of two sculptures from Cave I, Badami, depicting Harihara and Ardhanarishvara, by an Indian draftsman, dated 1853.

Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, was the capital of the Early Chalukya rulers in the sixth - eighth centuries AD... Read More
 14 Dec 2013
Writng box and games board, rosewood, c.1855 or c.1867, Calcutta.

This writing case has several uses. The lid is marked out for various games, including cribbage, chess and fox and geese. It lifts up and folds out into a velvet-lined writing slope with compartments for ink, pens and paper. The... Read More
 14 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Painting, month of Karttik, Baramasa, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Bikaner, ca. 1725

This is an illustration to a set of paintings known as barahmasa or 'twelve months'. They use the activities of lovers and nature to illustrate the months and seasons. This page, from a dispersed set... Read More
 14 Dec 2013 Rare Paintings
Painting, nobles playing Chaupar, opaque watercolour on paper, Kulu or Bilaspur, ca. 1715

Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, a royal figure resting on a rug leaning against a cushion. An attendant fans him from behind with peacock feathers. Three other players sit around a red chaupar b... Read More
 13 Dec 2013
Card board game, Patchesi, made in England by John Jaques & Son Ltd in the 1890s

Pachisi has been played in India for many centuries and is considered the country's national game. The name is derived from the Indian word for 25, which is the highest throw of cowrie shell dice. The game was int... Read More
 13 Dec 2013
Pachisi game board of wood, straw and cotton made in India in the 1970s

Pachisi is considered as a national game of India and it was introduced into England towards the end of the 19th century, hence Jaques patent of 1887. Pachisi is usually played on a cross shaped panel of cloth created from a... Read More
 11 Dec 2013
Rosewood games box inlaid with ivory and with brass mounts, Mysore (South India), early 19th century.

This games box originated at the court of the Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III. He was ruler of Mysore from 1794 to 1868 and a skilful games player. His abiding interest in the board games of ... Read More
 10 Dec 2013
Gold "Narasimha" fanam of Krishna Raja Wodeyar (1810-1868), Mysore, Princely State in India.

Seated bearded man / Nagari inscriptions. 7mm, 0.37 grams. Dateless type, probably issued throughout Raja Wodeyar's reign. Mysore mint.

Source: http://www.numismall.com Read More
 20 Nov 2013 Rare Paintings
Tasviri Akbar Padeshah va Sheik Saltm Chisti

Single-page painting on a detached album folio. The Mughal emperor Akbar seated under a tree with Shaykh Salim Chisti, one attendant, two female musicians and a goatherd with his goats and dog.
Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper.
Mughal Sty... Read More
 19 Nov 2013 Rare Paintings
A Mughal Nobleman visits Two Shaykhs

This painting, in the Northern Deccan Style, depicts a Mughal grandee, indentified by a later inscription as 'Mirza Mumin Beg, governor of Allahabad', an important Mughal province in Northern India. He kneels before two elderly sages, who are seated on a ga... Read More
 16 Nov 2013
Wine cup of Jahangir
Nephrite jade, Mughal, dated 1022 AH/1613-14 AD.

This wine cup of dark green nephrite jade was owned by the Mughal emperor Jahangir (r.1605-1627), whose name is included in the Persian verses incised in nasta'liq script round the rim and filled at a later date with white com... Read More
 16 Nov 2013 Rare Paintings
Portrait of Emperor Jahangir with his sons Khusraw and Parviz.

Jahangir is shown seated under a canopy giving private audience to his two sons. The emperor is surrounded by five figures comprising the two princes bearing fruit and wine, two servants and a page holding a flywhisk. The figures a... Read More