Not currently on display at the V&A

Ganga

Painting
1850-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, the four-armed Goddess Ganga is seated on her vehicle Makar, a mythological animal with elephant's head and body of a fish. The deity is holding a water container in her bottom left hand and a conch in her upper left palm, signifying the patron goddess of the River Ganges. The deity has been depicted with her third eye.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleGanga (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Brief description
Painting, Ganga, in watercolour on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, 1850-1860
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, the four-armed Goddess Ganga is seated on her vehicle Makar, a mythological animal with elephant's head and body of a fish. The deity is holding a water container in her bottom left hand and a conch in her upper left palm, signifying the patron goddess of the River Ganges. The deity has been depicted with her third eye.
Dimensions
  • Height: 411mm (maximum)
  • Width: 279mm (maximum)
  • Card onto which object mounted height: 466mm
  • Card onto which object mounted width: 320mm
15/05/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object irregular in shape.
Content description
The four-armed Goddess Ganga is seated on her vehicle Makar, a mythological animal with elephant's head and body of a fish. The deity is holding a water container in her bottom left hand and a conch in her upper left palm, signifying the patron goddess of the River Ganges. The deity has been depicted with her third eye.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'Bengal' (written on the bottom right-hand corner.)
Credit line
Given by Rudyard Kipling Esq., Bateman's, Burwash, Sussex
Object history
Part of an album, containing 196 prints, paintings and pen and pencil drawings together with 37 loose pages of paintings, calligraphic drawings, and outline pen drawings. The album was collected by late J. Lockwood Kipling between the years 1865 and 1893. In 1875 he became Principal of the Mayo School of Art, Lahore and held this post until his retirement in1893. The album was presented to the Museum by his son Rudyard Kipling in 1917.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic references
  • Archer, W.G., Kalighat Paintings a Catalogue and Introduction, Victoria & Albert Museum, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1971, pp.49-51. SBN 11 290029 1
  • Archer, W.G., Bazaar Paintings of Calcutta, Victoria & Albert Museum, H.M.S.O., 1955 pp.22-23, pl.15
Collection
Accession number
IM.2:61-1917

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMarch 31, 2006
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest