Shiva thumbnail 1
Shiva thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Shiva

Painting
ca. 1730 - ca. 1740 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Mandi (made)

Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, depicting the five-faced Shiva (one head not shown) enthroned, on a pedestal with the heads of Nandi and a tiger either side; he wears a leopard skin and has an elephant's head draped over his shoulder.


Object details

Categories
Paintings
Hinduism
Religion
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
SCRAN
Object type
Painting
TitleShiva (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Paint
Paper
Painted
Brief description
Painting, Shiva enthroned, opaque watercolour on paper, Mandi, ca. 1730-1740
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, depicting the five-faced Shiva (one head not shown) enthroned, on a pedestal with the heads of Nandi and a tiger either side; he wears a leopard skin and has an elephant's head draped over his shoulder.
Dimensions
  • Height: 26.6cm
  • Width: 18.2cm
Content description
Five-faced Shiva, enthroned.
Style
Mandi
Credit line
Given by Colonel T. G. Gayer-Anderson, CMG, DSO, and his twin brother Major R. G. Gayer- Anderson, Pasha.
Object history
From the Gayer-Anderson Collection. The five-faced Shiva flourished in Mandi under the charismatic raja Sidh Sen. This form of Shiva, with his fifth face unseen at the back, was worshipped at the main temple in Mandi. He is seated on a stone pedestal on either side of which appear the heads of Nandi and a tiger.
Subjects depicted
Deities
Pedestal
Shiva
Nandi
Bibliographic references
  • Swallow, Deborah and John Guy eds. Arts of India: 1550-1900. text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : V&A Publications, 1990. 240 p., ill. ISBN 1851770224, p.147, pl.126.
  • Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills : a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting / by W. G. Archer ; foreword by Sherman E. Lee. London :Delhi: Sotheby Parke Bernet ;Oxford University Press, 1973 Number: 0856670022 p. 356, cat. no. 15
  • Diamond, D. Yoga: The Art of Transformation, Smithsonian Institute, 2013 pp. 106, 110 and 299 cat. no. 1D
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.239-1952

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Record createdFebruary 7, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74041/shiva-painting-unknown/
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