Not currently on display at the V&A

Shiva and Annapurna

Painting
ca. 1830 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, Shiva is standing on the right, accepting food from his wife, Annapurna, 'giver of plenty' and a benign form of Parvati. She holds a plate of rice in her left hand and a western style spoon in her right, while Shiva holds either a fruit or a sweetmeat in his left hand. Shiva is depicted in the mountain god form, with loose hair, and wearing a loin cloth of animal skin. Annapurna sits on a low backless divan type stool with clawed feet. The main colours used are red, grey, yellow and green. Personal adornments of necklaces, hair and ear ornaments are painted in tin alloy.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleShiva and Annapurna (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pencil line drawing painted over in watercolour on mill made paper
Brief description
Painting, Shiva and Annapurna, opaque watercolour on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, ca. 1830
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, Shiva is standing on the right, accepting food from his wife, Annapurna, 'giver of plenty' and a benign form of Parvati. She holds a plate of rice in her left hand and a western style spoon in her right, while Shiva holds either a fruit or a sweetmeat in his left hand. Shiva is depicted in the mountain god form, with loose hair, and wearing a loin cloth of animal skin. Annapurna sits on a low backless divan type stool with clawed feet. The main colours used are red, grey, yellow and green. Personal adornments of necklaces, hair and ear ornaments are painted in tin alloy.
Dimensions
  • Height: 445mm (maximum)
  • Width: 273mm
31/07/13 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object irregular in shape
Content description
Shiva is standing on the right, accepting food from his wife, Annapurna, 'giver of plenty' and a benign form of Parvati. She holds a plate of rice in her left hand and a western style spoon in her right, while Shiva holds either a fruit or a sweetmeat in his left hand. Shiva is depicted in the mountain god form, with loose hair, and wearing a loin cloth of animal skin. Annapurna sits on a low, backless divan type stool with clawed feet. The main colours used are red, grey, yellow and green.
Style
Production
The dating follows W.G Archer's 1971 catalogue of the V&A's collection of Kalighat paintings. Calcutta is referred to in the 21st century as Kolkata.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Archer, W.G., Kalighat Paintings, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1971, P44, 45
Collection
Accession number
IS.203-1950

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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