painting
- Museum number
- 2007,3005.30
- Description
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Gouache painting on paper from a portfolio of sixty-three paintings of deities and daily life. The four-headed and red-complexioned Brahmā kneels in front of Bhairava (a form of Śiva), who stands on a pedestal. Behind him is his conveyance, the dog. Brahmā carries the book in his upper right hand and a long stylus in his upper left, while his lower hands are in anjali mudra. He wears a dhoti and angavastra (shawl). Bhairava carries in his upper right hand the damaru (hourglass shaped drum); in his upper left is a kapala (alms bowl) and in his lower hands he holds a trishula (trident). His hair is tied in a topknot on his head, and on either side are three flying dreadlocks. Among the matted locks of the topknot is the face of Gaṅgā. He wears a tiger skin, paduka (sandals) and ornaments: especially noteworthy here are those on his ears.
- Production date
- 1820 (circa)
- Dimensions
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Height: 29.50 centimetres
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Width: 23.20 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Dallapiccola 2010:
The stylus in Brahma’s hand, which consistently appears throughout this set, is a relatively rare iconographic feature
The portfolio consists of sixty-three paintings on loose sheets of paper. The series includes images of deities, mendicants and ritual scenes such as a wedding and cremation. Executed on European laid and water-marked paper, with the date 1816 appearing on one sheet, the paintings must have been produced in the immediately following years, c. 1820. There is much use of gold paint and brilliant colours, which is still bright, evidence of the portfolio having been kept closed for long periods since its creation.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- basically good, but torn and bumped at edges and foxed.
- Acquisition date
- 2007
- Acquisition notes
- Formerly in the possession of Edward Moodie's maternal great-uncle, Rupert Richardson-Gardner, who worked in India in the 1930s. However, given the presence of auction room stickers on several of the paintings (one provides the date of the sale – June 15th 1977), it is more likely that the portfolio was acquired by him during his post-war career in Christie’s (he was a specialist in carpets and rugs, but, given his previous career in India, he probably maintained an interest in things Indian which he saw passing through the sale-rooms).
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 2007,3005.30
