Kali dancing on Shiva
Painting
ca. 1890 (made)
ca. 1890 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper. Four-armed Kali is depicted standing on a prostrate Shiva. The deity is shown with her third eye and she is garlanded. The hair of the goddess has been let loose and there is a halo behind her tiara-adorned head. She is holding in her upper left hand a kharga, the sacrificial axe and in her lower left hand she is holding a severed head of an Asur, a demon. The deity is supposed to hold other two arms in abhoy-mudra and baroda-mudra, but the painter has not shown the correct postures. Around her waist the goddess is wearing a skirt made up of severed arms of slained Asurs. A crow or a magpie is seen licking dripping blood from the Asur's severed neck. The prostrate Shiva has a coiled snake over his head and another snake can be seen round his neck.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Kali dancing on Shiva (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Painted in opaque watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Painting, Kali dancing on Shiva, opaque watercolour on paper, Kalighat, Kolkata, India, ca.1890 |
| Physical description | Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper. Four-armed Kali is depicted standing on a prostrate Shiva. The deity is shown with her third eye and she is garlanded. The hair of the goddess has been let loose and there is a halo behind her tiara-adorned head. She is holding in her upper left hand a kharga, the sacrificial axe and in her lower left hand she is holding a severed head of an Asur, a demon. The deity is supposed to hold other two arms in abhoy-mudra and baroda-mudra, but the painter has not shown the correct postures. Around her waist the goddess is wearing a skirt made up of severed arms of slained Asurs. A crow or a magpie is seen licking dripping blood from the Asur's severed neck. The prostrate Shiva has a coiled snake over his head and another snake can be seen round his neck. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | Four-armed Kali standing on a prostrate Shiva. |
| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Rudyard Kipling Esq., Bateman's, Burwash, Sussex |
| Object history | Part of an album, containing 196 prints, paintings and pen and pencil drawings together with 37 loose pages of paintings, calligraphic drawings, and outline pen drawings. The collection is mainly composed of native lithograph pictures sold at the local bazaars and fairs of Upper India and Bengal. The album was collected by late J Lockwood Kipling between the years 1865 and 1893. In 1875 he became Principal of the Mayo School of Art, Lahore and held this post until his retirement in 1893. The album was presented to the Museum by his son, Rudyard Kipling in 1917. Given by Rudyard Kipling Esq., Bateman's, Burwash, Sussex. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project. R.P. 1917-2627M, R.P. 1917-2705M |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Bibliographic reference | Kalighat paintings : a catalogue and introduction / by W.G. Archer. London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1971 Number: 0112900291 :
pl. 45, cat. no. 32. ii: p. 91. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | IM.2:185-1917 |
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| Record created | October 13, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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