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Kalighat painting - Lakshmi and Saraswati

Lakshmi and Saraswati

  • Object:

    Kalighat painting

  • Place of origin:

    West Bengal
    Pingla
    Naya Village (The patua village at Naya is home to over 300 working artist families, who live and work as a tightly knit community. They primarily work on longer scroll paintings, but some artists also produce Kalighat paintings. , painted)

  • Date:

    1995 - 1998 (painted)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Chitrakar, Ranjit (artist)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Organic pigments on handmade paper

  • Museum number:

    IS.42-2011

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

Lakshmi and Saraswati, the Hindu godesses of wealth, beauty and learning, stand in mirroring poses, echoing that of 19th century depictions of Krishna and his brother Balarama. Some of the pigments used consist of juice from the betel nut for red, and white clay known as Kusum mati.

Physical description

An almost square painting, with the two figures of Lakshmi and Saraswati standing next to each other with their bodies angled away from each other at the waist. Lakshmi stands on the left and Saraswati on the right when facing the painting. The details of jewellery and other personal adornments are painted in white paint, made from Kusum mati - a type of white clay.

Place of Origin

West Bengal
Pingla
Naya Village (The patua village at Naya is home to over 300 working artist families, who live and work as a tightly knit community. They primarily work on longer scroll paintings, but some artists also produce Kalighat paintings. , painted)

Date

1995 - 1998 (painted)

Artist/maker

Chitrakar, Ranjit (artist)

Materials and Techniques

Organic pigments on handmade paper

Dimensions

Height: 445 mm, Width: 355 mm

Descriptive line

Kalighat painting 'Lakshmi and Saraswati', by Ranjit Chitrakar, Medinipur, West Bengal, 1995 - 1998.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

p.100 cat. no 87
Sinha, Suhashini, and Panda, C, eds. Kalighat Paintings from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2012. ISBN 1851776656.

Labels and date

The poses of the two goddesses in this Kalighat painting echo those of Krishna and Balarama in the V&A's collection. Some of the pigments used consist of juice from the betel nut for red, and white clay known as Kusum mati. [October 2011 - May 2012]

Materials

Handmade paper; Plant pigment

Techniques

Hand painted

Categories

Paintings; Hinduism; Folk Art

Collection

South & South East Asia Collection

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