Not currently on display at the V&A

Painting

first half 20th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Painting, watercolour on paper, a man in a dhoti seated on the ground and beneath an indented arch, makes the gesture of exposition ('vitarka mudra'). The figure's upper torso is bare except some kind of 'mala' around his neck. There are two vessels beside the figure and a cloth hanging from a peg.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted in watercolour on paper
Brief description
Painting, seated man, watercolour on paper, West Bengal, first half 20th century
Physical description
Painting, watercolour on paper, a man in a dhoti seated on the ground and beneath an indented arch, makes the gesture of exposition ('vitarka mudra'). The figure's upper torso is bare except some kind of 'mala' around his neck. There are two vessels beside the figure and a cloth hanging from a peg.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25.5cm
  • Width: 22.2cm
1979 dimensions are from accession register.
Style
Object history
The painting was purchased in 1979 from Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc, New York, USA
Production
This 'mortuary' figure of a seated man was painted by a 'jadupatua' (magic scroll painter). By adding the pupils of the eyes on the picture, for a fee, the 'jadupatua' would endow the recently deceased subject with sight in the other world.
Bibliographic references
  • Sotheby Parke Bernet , N.Y., catalogue 15 June 1979, lot 3 Mildred Archer: Indian Popular Painting, pp. 16-17 and 64 London: Her Majaesty's Stationery Office 1977 ISBN 0 11 580184 7
  • Arts of Bengal : the heritage of Bangladesh and eastern India : an exhibition organized by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum : 9 November-30 December 1979, Whitechapel Art Gallery ..., 12 January-17 February 1980, Manchester City Art Gallery ... . [London]: Whitechapel Art Gallery, [1979] Number: 085488047X (pbk.) : p.44
Collection
Accession number
IS.42-1979

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Record createdOctober 24, 2003
Record URL
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