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

Painting

ca. 1750 - ca. 1755 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Murshidabad (made)

Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, two female ascetics, one with a vina, seated before a hut.


Object details

Categories
Paintings
Hinduism
Religion
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
Object type
Painting
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Paint
Opaque Watercolour
Paper
Painted
Brief description
Painting, two female ascetics, opaque watercolour on paper, Murshidabad, ca. 1750-1755
Physical description
Painting, opaque watercolour on paper, two female ascetics, one with a vina, seated before a hut.
Dimensions
  • Height: 24cm
  • Width: 16.5cm
Content description
Two female ascetics, one with a vina, seated before a hut.
Style
Mughal
Gallery label
TWO YOGINIS Opaque watercolour on paper Murshidabad, Bengal 1750-60 D.1170-1903 These two figures are identifiable as Hindu holy women (yoginis) by the matted hair of the woman on the right and by their circular ear-rings, which are worn by the Nath sect of Shaivite yogis. One of the yoginis has a band wrapped around her knees to help maintain her posture while meditating. The forked stick in her hand performs a similar function when positioned as a prop under the arm.(27/9/2013)
Object history
Dehejia, Vidya (ed.) Devi: The Great Goddess: Female Divinity in South Asian Art. Washington : Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,1999. ISBN 8185822638/3791321293, p. 387 cat. 119
Production
The painting is in the style of the Mughal provincial court painting, Murshidabad school. Please see Attributions Note for D.1201-1903 for further information on Murshidabad school.
Subjects depicted
Figures
Ascetics
Hut
Bibliographic references
  • Skelton, Robert, 'Murshidabad Painting', Marg, Vol.X, No.1, December 1956, pp.10-22
  • 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.45
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
D.1170-1903

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Record createdNovember 21, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O86152/painting-unknown/
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