Rare Paintings
 11 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
Painting; gouache, Sati Ceremony, Tanjore, 1800

Sati ceremony: self-immolation of a Hindu widow, with men and women mourning by a river.

The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are called Company paintings. This one depicts the practice of sati (suttee) or widow-burning... Read More
 6 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
A standing portrait of a man holding a flower
Gouache painting on paper
Deccani School
1780 (circa)
Deccan

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 6 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
A dancing girl
Gouache painting on paper
19thC(early)
Deccan

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 5 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
An equestrian portrait of a Nawab, or nobleman from the Deccan.
Gouache paiting on paper.
Deccani School
1750-1775 (circa)
Deccan

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 3 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
A woman with a pet bird and two attendants
Gouache painting on paper
Deccani School
18thC(late)
Golconda

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 2 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
The constellations of the Crow and Centaurus
Deccan Plateau, late 16th century - early 17th century

These illustrated pages [EA1978.2573, EA1978.2576, EA1978.2577] originally belonged to three different manuscripts of The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence (Arabic: ‘Aja’ib al-makh... Read More
 2 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
The angel Ruh holding the celestial spheres
Iran, 2nd half of the 16th century

These illustrated pages [EA1978.2573, EA1978.2576, EA1978.2577] originally belonged to three different manuscripts of The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence (Arabic: ‘Aja’ib al-makhluqat wa-ghara’ib al-... Read More
 2 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
Wedding procession of Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah
Golconda, c. 1650

This scene of a wedding party travelling by night depicts Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda (r.1580-1612) bringing home his bride, the beautiful Hindu dancing-girl Bhagmati. Himself a Shia Muslim, Muhammad Quli had fall... Read More
 2 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
Devotion - Two women visiting a religious mendicant
Painting on paper
Mughal Style
Islamic
18th century

Copyright © The British Library Board Read More
 2 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
Watercolour painting on paper of a mendicant, possibly a Muslim dervish. The man is standing upright and holds a walking stick in his right hand. In his left hand he holds a large begging bowl. He wears a patchwork tunic which appears to have been repaired and a matching bag over his left shoulde... Read More
 1 Aug 2013 Rare Paintings
North-east view of Hyderabad - 1799

This is plate 1 from 'Hindoostan Scenery consisting of Twelve Select Views in India' by Francis Jukes (1746-1812) and Thomas Anburey (1759-1840) of the Corps of Engineers, Bengal.

While serving with the Bengal Army between 1792 and 1793, Anburey helped su... Read More
 31 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Gouache painting on paper from a portfolio of sixty-three paintings of deities and daily life. Painting on two sheets of paper (taped together) depicting The Churning of the Milky Ocean. In the centre of the page is mount Mandara with a serpent coiled around, being used to churn the ocean to rele... Read More
 31 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Gouache painting on paper from a portfolio of sixty-three paintings of deities and daily life. Painting on two sheets of paper, depicting the story of Gajendra, the king of the elephants being attacked by a crocodile in a stream. Viṣṇu’s golden chakra is depicted first flying mid-air and then dec... Read More
 31 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Painting on paper depicting Arjuna perched on a high platform aims his arrow at a large boar which rushes towards him. The green-complexioned hero kneels on a tiger skin, an allusion to his penance in the jungle. A quiver hangs from his right shoulder and his stance expresses his concentration in... Read More
 31 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Double page painting on paper depicting a Hindu wedding. A magnificent wedding procession progresses on a road skirted by low buildings and trees. The small niches for the lamps on the houses’ walls and flanking their entrances, the verandahs and the steps leading to them have been rendered with ... Read More
 27 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Bronze Buddha and Scarlet Hippeastrum
By Winston Spencer Churchill
1948
Oil on canvas, 101.5 x 76 cm
Collection: National Trust
© The Churchill Heritage Ltd


Churchill as Artist
Half Passion, Half Philosophy

By Ron Cynewulf Robbins

Churchill was forty before he discovered the pleasures of pain... Read More
 25 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Buddha in meditation

Painting
Eastern Deccan, India
ca. 1780 (made)
Gouache on paper

Opaque watercolour on paper depicting Buddha, the eighth avatar of Vishnu in the form of Buddha in meditation.

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 22 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Seated Buddha, from the Monument of Borobudur, Java
late 19th-mid 20th century

Joseph Lindon Smith 1863-1950)
Oil on canvas
H: 10.8 W: 51.5 cm
United States

Joseph Lindon Smith was born at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. After studying at the Boston School of Fine Arts for two years, he wor... Read More
 21 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
The Buddha Shakyamuni flanked by five past Buddhas and Maitreya
ca. 15th century
Tibet
Distemper on wood

This painting shows the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni with five past Buddhas, a popular association in Tibetan compositions. The Historical Buddha is represented in a monk's patchwork robe, w... Read More
 20 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
An opaque watercolour painting on paper depicting The Emperior Shah Jahan and three of his sons and courtiers, approaching an idgah for Muslim festival, possibly at Ajmer.

ca. 1635

Opaque watercolour on paper

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 20 Jul 2013 Rare Paintings
Nawab of Murshidabad proceeding to the mosque for the festival of Bakr Id, Murshidabad, ca. 1795 - ca. 1805

Painting; gouache

Marks and inscriptions:
'Munny Begum's Musjid with the procession of the Bukery Ed at Moorshidabad'.

This is one of a group of nine paintings. They depict a durb... Read More