popular print;
album
- Museum number
- 2003,1022,0.14
- Description
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Album of popular prints mounted on cloth pages. Colour lithograph, lettered, inscribed and numbered 14. A Buddha deva is seated on a lotus throne with his right hand raised in abhaya mudra. He is framed between two highly ornate columns and carved architectural reliefs surround his form. The spires of four stupas can be seen in the background.
- Production date
- 1895 (circa)
- Dimensions
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Height: 41 centimetres (sheet)
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Width: 30.50 centimetres (sheet)
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- Curator's comments
- The Calcutta Art Studio was established in 1878 by Ananda Prasad Bagchi (1849-1905) along with the help of several artists. Lithography was gaining momentum as a medium for picture production in the 1870s, and this was one of the largest studios operating in Bengal producing popular prints for the mass market. Hand-written captions in English have been added to the Bengali letter-press of the majority of the prints (some letterpress also in Hindi). The majority of the chromolithographs in this album were produced in Calcutta and reflect Bengal devotional cults; the final four prints were published by the Ravi Varma Press from Lonavla, c. 1910.
See Christopher Pinney, 'Photos of the Gods' London 2004 for a comprehensive account of nineteenth century popular prints in India.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Good
- Acquisition date
- 2003
- Acquisition notes
- Acquired by the vendor in a library sale in the UK.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 2003,1022,0.14
