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Krishna and Balarama

Painting
ca. 1855 - ca. 1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Painting, in watercolour and tin alloy on paper, image of the blue skinned god Krishna on the right with his elder brother Balarama on the left. Balarama is normally shown with a white complexion carrying a horn or a ploughshare. Both deities have peacock crowns and silver necklaces (executed in tin alloy) which hang over their pleated dhotis. Reared with Krishna in the family of the cowherd Nanda, Balarama shared his boyhood in Brindaban. He assisted Krishna in the killing of many demons.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleKrishna and Balarama (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and tin alloy on paper
Brief description
Painting, Krishna and Balarama, watercolour and tin alloy on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, ca. 1855-1860
Physical description
Painting, in watercolour and tin alloy on paper, image of the blue skinned god Krishna on the right with his elder brother Balarama on the left. Balarama is normally shown with a white complexion carrying a horn or a ploughshare. Both deities have peacock crowns and silver necklaces (executed in tin alloy) which hang over their pleated dhotis. Reared with Krishna in the family of the cowherd Nanda, Balarama shared his boyhood in Brindaban. He assisted Krishna in the killing of many demons.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17in
  • Width: 11in
Content description
Krishna on the right with his elder brother Balarama on the left. Balarama is normally shown with a white complexion carrying a horn or a ploughshare. Both deities have peacock crowns and silver necklaces which hang over their pleated dhotis. Reared with Krishna in the family of the cowherd Nanda, Balarama shared his boyhood in Brindaban. He assisted Krishna in the killing of many demons.
Style
Credit line
Given by Rudyard Kipling Esq., Bateman's, Burwash, Sussex
Object history
Historical significance: Calcutta was recognised as the Capital of British India from 1833-1912. By the 1830s, artists had arrived from rural villages in Bengal and began to produce paintings that reflected local history, mythology, customs and conflicts of a colonised society. As a popular art form, these artists are recognised for their use of brilliant colour, simplified images and swift brushstrokes that became the hallmark of Kalighat painting in the 19th and early 20th century.
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic references
  • Kalighat paintings : a catalogue and introduction / by W.G. Archer. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1971 Number: 0112900291 : fig A frontispiece, and pl. no. 9, cat. no. 5,ii: p.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. 56
  • Archer, W.G., Bazaar Paintings of Calcutta, Victoria & Albert Museum, H.M.S.O., 1955 p. 22, no. 5 and fig. 14
Collection
Accession number
IM.2:62-1917

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Record createdDecember 18, 2002
Record URL
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