Embroidered kalaga (hanging). Wool cloth with an applique design showing scenes from the Candakinnari and Ummadanti Jatakas of coloured woollen and cotton fabrics (partly painted) and silver sequins, Rangoon, Burma, ca. 1880

To be hung vertically.
Colour co-ordinations are restrained and extremely pleasing.
The rectangular central area is arranged in three panels each depicting a scene from a Jataka or play popular at the time.
At the top, the king of Varanasi, accompanied by his thu-nge-daw (page), is about to shoot Chandkinara (a male half-human half-bird creature), because of his infuriation for its mate, the beautiful grief-stricken kinnari, Candakinnari.
In the second register, is a highlight from the Ohnmadani (Ummadanti) Jataka. King Sivi (Thiwi), out riding his elephant, encounters the stunningly beautiful Ohmadani, and becomes besotted by her. But she is the wife of Ahbipayaka, his good frind and faithful general.
The bottom section shows a courtly couple attended by two ministers and an official; the story has yet to be identified. (Inf. from Noel Singer 2002)
All the figures are dressed in the court costumes of the Konbaung Dynasty.
The seven borders which surround the central panel have been painstakingly decorated in a series of meandering floral and foliate patterns, together with bands of complicated luntaya motifs found in the traditional pahso and hta-mein or lower garments worn by men and women.

(1886 Registry description from the Indian Section of the South Kensington Museum)
"Hanging. Applique work in woollen cloth with figures of men and women in various colours on a brown ground. Triple borders of running floral patterns. Rangoon"

Purchased from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition held in London in 1886 for £12.

The tragic contents of the Candakinnari Jataka, which was turned into a play, was extremely popular with audiences of the day.
Ohnmadani (Ummadanti) Jataka was also seen in theatre form. The terrible torments the king experiences delighted the audience.

Attribution note: The subtle choice of colours, and the similarity of design in rendering the characters, suggest that this kalaga and IS 4-1973 originated from the same workshop, and is probably also dateable to the early 1880s. Great ingenuity has been employed in making sure that the decoration in the surrounding borders have not been duplicated. As the figures are extremely elegant and lively, the artist who worked out the design for these two kalagas was obviously talented and well-trained. He may have been an ex-court artist who had moved to Rangoon where work was more lucrative.

This is a fine example of a Burmese pictorial textile hanging known as a kalaga. The owner would have used it either as a decorative wall hanging, a room partition, or as a screen hung outside the house on festive occasions. The kalaga depicts episodes from the popular Candakinnari and Ummadanti Jatakas (stories of the Buddha's former lives). The appliqué design on a brown/green woolen cloth ground is worked in coloured fabrics, ornamented with sequins, and with face features partly painted. The costumes of the figures are depicted in the stylised tradition of Burmese theatre relate to the fashions worn in the Mandalay Court of about 1880.

Britain's control of Burma extended as the 19th century progressed, and the country was annexed in 1885. The extravagant style of kalagas appealed to Burmese and Europeans alike and their popularity soared in the middle of the 19th century.

This kalaga was acquired by the Museum from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition held in London in 1886, soon after the fall of Mandalay.

IS.71-1886