Rare Paintings
 30 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Budha or Planet Mercury

Watercolour painting on paper of a male figure, crowned, riding on a horse. The horse has a decorated bridle. The male holds a spear over his left shoulder. Trees and hills can be seen in the distance. The painting is edged with a thin black border
Patna, India - early 19... Read More
 28 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
The interior of the theatre - 1815

Watercolour of a theatre from 'Views by Seeta Ram from Agra to Barrackpore Vol. X' produced for Lord Moira, afterwards the Marquess of Hastings, by Sita Ram between 1814-15. Marquess of Hastings, the Governor-General of Bengal and the Commander-in-Chief (r. 1... Read More
 28 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Sakuntala watched by King Dushyanta
Painting
Artist: Kshitindranath Majumdar
Watercolour

The artist has depicted a Hindu mythological scene told in the Mahabarata and dramatized by playwright Kalisada in 'The Recognition of Sakuntala.' The scene depicts Sakuntala, a nymph who grew up in the... Read More
 26 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting depicting the god Śiva riding on a green parrot, with a dog running alongside. Here Śiva is shown as a wild ascetic, or yogi, with matted and colied-up hair decorated with the crescent moon, fangs, a skull-cup and animal skins around his waist. Painted on paper.

Punjab, 1820
Pahari ... Read More
 26 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Ladies in a courtyard with a parrot - 18th century
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper

The painting shows a young lady seated on the floor within a small decorative pavilion inside an enclosed courtyard. She is looking over her shoulder towards an orange and green parrot on a perch while a f... Read More
 26 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting; watercolour, a parrot tethered to a perch, Patna, ca. 1870
Artist: Hulas Lal, born 1780 - died 1879

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 26 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting; gouache on watermarked paper, The goddess Rajamatangi, Trichinopoly, ca. 1825

The goddess Rajamatangi seated on a throne in the mukhasana position holding a sarasvativina while she listens to a parrot perched upon her right shoulder. From a series of 100 drawings of Hindu deities cre... Read More
 25 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Folio from a Yusuf and Zulaykha by Jami (d. 1492); Egyptian women overwhelmed by Yusuf's beauty
circa 1525
Safavid period

Opaque watercolor and ink on paper
H: 26.6 W: 15.9 cm
Herat, Afghanistan

The story of Yusuf and Zulayka is well known from the Old Testament (Genesis 37-45, where... Read More
 25 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Babur Supervising the Laying Out of the Garden of Fidelity
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
India - ca.1590
Artists: Bishndas and Nanha

This painting is the right half of a double-page composition (the left-hand page is Museum no. IM.276A-1913) depicting the Mughal emperor Babur (1483–1530... Read More
 24 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
This painting depicts a plantain.

Trichinopoly, India - ca. 1860
Gouache on mica

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 24 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
A nobleman with attendants in a garden.

India, ca.1610-15
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper.

A nobleman is seated on one side of a platform in the centre of a char bagh (Islamic garden divided into four quarters). He is showing a younger man a plant, who, in turn, is holding out a flow... Read More
 24 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting; Gouache on mica, A fruit shop, Trichinopoly, ca.1850

Copyright: © V&A Images Read More
 23 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
WOMAN'S COURT COSTUME: Silk with gold and silver braid and pompoms. Lucknow, C.1830-40.

This extravagant costume would have been worn by a dancer or noblewoman at the flamboyant Lucknow Court, although the fashion for exaggeratedly wide trousers like these worn under a full, shorter overdress w... Read More
 23 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
A Lala or Rajpoot,1830-1835

Opaque watercolour painting on European paper of a man wearing a flowing angarkha (long coat with high waist) tied by a sash at the waist, slippers with upturned toes and a turban tied in the northern Indian style. He carries in his left hand a book or sheet of pape... Read More
 23 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Portrait of Arif Unnisa Begum - Wife of Jalal Uddin Mohammed Akbar Badshah, son of Mohammad Himayun Badshah.

Badshah of Jalundur's begum holding a sword and a shield. Gouache painting by an Indian painter.
Published: [India], [18--?]
Size: painting 58 x 45 cm.

Credit: Wellcome Library, London Read More
 23 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Shabih-ikhas - Sultan Amir Taimur Sahib-i-Qiran bin. Amir Turaghan.
Gouache painting by an Indian painter.
Published: [India], [18--?]
Size: image 57.8 x 44.6 cm

Credit: Wellcome Library, London Read More
 22 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Square Rumal or coverlet of embroidered cotton with silk, Punjab Hills, 18th century

Square rumal or coverlet of embroidered white cotton with silk. The coverlet is divided into 16 compartments containing scenes of Krishna playing the flute or conversing with gopis (cowherd girls). With floral... Read More
 20 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
View of the ruined façade of one of the Hindu temples. Dieng Plateau, Central Java - 1807
Drawing. Watercolours on paper.

© Trustees of the British Museum Read More
 19 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Oil painting on canvas.
Bengal - 1890

The painting depicts the return of the goddess Devi Agamani (Uma or Durga), who is shown jewelled and crowned in the distinctive Bengali form, with tall pointed headgear. She is seated on a lotus saddle-cover and rides on her lion 'vahana', or animal moun... Read More
 19 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
Shiva and Parvati with their children Ganesha and Kartikeya (Skanda)
ca. 1830
Painting
H: 20.1 W: 15.8 cm
Kangra, Punjab Hills, India

Copyright © Smithsonian Institution Read More
 17 Sep 2012 Rare Paintings
'A Fukeer drinking'

Lucknow, India - ca.1815 - ca. 1820
Watercolour

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