drawing;
album
- Museum number
- 1962,1231,0.12.2
- Description
-
Album drawing. Pen and ink wash on paper. Composite five-headed Vaiṣṇava deity. The five faces represent (from left to right): Varāha, Garuḍa, Hanumān, Narahsiṁha and Kalki. The figure is seated on a cushioned dais, with one leg raised and has a long tail on which a small bell is tied. The right hands of the deity carry the chakra (discus) , sword, banner and pasha (noose) while his left outer hands hold the shankha (conch), buckler, pasha (noose) and kamandalu (water vessel). The central two hands are in abhaya and varada mudra.
- Production date
- 1826
- Dimensions
-
Height: 22.80 centimetres (page)
-
Width: 19 centimetres (page)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Dallapiccola 2010:
This album of ninety-nine pen and ink wash drawings is unusual within the British Museum collection as a large proportion (seventy) of its drawings deal with the exploits of Kṛṣṇa. These can be grouped under three headings: the god as naughty child, adolescent hero and lover. The selection of episodes follows, by and large, the narrative of the Bhagavata Purana. A number of scenes, however, are inspired by the oral tradition of the Telugu-speaking area.
Of the remaining twenty-nine drawings, twenty-five illustrate a number of gods, goddesses, mythological incidents and tirthas (place of pilgrimage). The artist or the patron had an eye for unusual murtis: for instance, Vallabhi Vighneshvara (1962,1231,0.12.1), and the five-faced Hanuman (1962,1231,0.12.2) are relatively rare. The last four leaves of the album show architectural drawings, unusual in this type of work.
The artist responsible for this set demonstrates a remarkable control of his medium. His elegant, fluid line and the discreet shading with a pale wash are hallmarks of his style. The technique of indicating three dimensionality using shading may have been introduced by European artists. The majority of the paper is water marked ‘A. Cowen & Sons 1826’, with the last ten sheets watermarked ‘A. Cowen & Sons 1825’.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1962
- Acquisition notes
- Transferred from the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books (OMPB) in 1962.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1962,1231,0.12.2
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 1168 (Egerton number)
