Saraswati

License this image

To license this image or for more information please contact our Licensing team.

We can manage your request more quickly if you include the following information:

Image reference number: XXX
Title and author (if applicable)
Publisher/Producer/Broadcaster
Planned release date
Print run or number of units
Image size and position, example 1/4 page, full screen, front cover, inside
Languages/territorial distribution
Digital rights - format details and license period

Not currently on display at the V&A

Artist/Maker	Unknown
Place of origin	Kolkata (made)

Painting, opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Saraswati sits on a lotus flower surrounded by flowering lotuses and green stems. She is the goddess of learning and patroness of art, music and the sciences. She is dressed in a blue salwaar-kameez rather than a sari. She holds a long silver stem (executed in tin alloy) diagonally in her hands. It is unclear what this is - she is normally shown holding a musical instrument, the veena.

Object details

Categories	Hinduism Drawings Paintings Myths & Legends Religion Folk Art Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
Object type	Painting
Title	Saraswati (generic title)
Materials and techniques	Painted in watercolour and tin alloy on paper Watercolour Tin Alloy Paint Paper Painted
Brief description	Painting, Saraswati, opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, ca. 1830
Physical description	Painting, opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Saraswati sits on a lotus flower surrounded by flowering lotuses and green stems. She is the goddess of learning and patroness of art, music and the sciences. She is dressed in a blue salwaar-kameez rather than a sari. She holds a long silver stem (executed in tin alloy) diagonally in her hands. It is unclear what this is - she is normally shown holding a musical instrument, the veena.
Dimensions	Height: 410mm (maximum) Width: 276mm (maximum) 31/07/13 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object irregular in shape
Content description	Saraswati sits on a lotus flower surrounded by flowering lotuses and green stems.
Style	Kalighat
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	Deity Lotus Saraswati
Bibliographic reference	Archer, W.G., Kalighat Paintings, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1971, P44, 45
Collection	South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number	IS.192-1950

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 created	June 25, 2009
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O432774/saraswati-painting-unknown/

Download as: JSON IIIF Manifest

License this image

Download image

Object details

About this object record

You may also like