Painting thumbnail 1
Painting thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Painting

circa 1855-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Painting, in opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, depicting a four-headed and four-armed Brahma seated cross-legged on a throne, under which is a swan.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in watercolour and tin alloy on paper
Brief description
Painting, Brahma, opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, ca. 1855-1860
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, depicting a four-headed and four-armed Brahma seated cross-legged on a throne, under which is a swan.
Dimensions
  • Height: 414mm (maximum)
  • Width: 277mm (maximum)
  • Card onto which object mounted height: 437mm
  • Card onto which object mounted width: 302mm
15/05/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object irregular in shape.
Content description
A four-headed and four-armed Brahma seated cross-legged on a throne, under which is a swan.
Style
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 collection is mainly composed of native lithograph pictures sold at the local bazaars and fairs of Upper India and Bengal. 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 in 1893. The album was presented to the Museum by his son, Rudyard Kipling in 1917.

Given by Rudyard Kipling Esq., Bateman's, Burwash, Sussex. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project.

R.P. 1917-2627M, R.P. 1917-2705M
Production
Kalighat
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic references
  • Archer, W G: Kalighat Paintings, V&A, London, 1971, pp 49-51
  • 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. p. 47 and p. 7 (detail) and p. 17 Fig1.4
Collection
Accession number
IM.2:85-1917

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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