drawing;
album
- Museum number
- 1962,1231,0.12.99
- Description
-
Album drawing. Pen and ink wash on paper. Drawing of a sculptural detail of a lion squatting on a small pedestal, creeperlike ornaments emerging from the sides of its snout while floral motifs appear atop its ears and tail. It has bulging round eyes, fierce protruding fangs and a small moustache.
- Production date
- 1826
- Dimensions
-
Height: 22.80 centimetres (page)
-
Width: 19 centimetres (page)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Dallapiccola 2010:
This drawing represents one of the ubiquitous squatting lions carved at the base of the pillars in the Tirumala Nayaka mandapa, now known as the Pudu mandapa, and in the Vellala mandapa, both in Madurai.
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
- 1962,1231,0.12.99
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: 1168 (Egerton number)