Rare Paintings
 16 May 2012 Rare Paintings
Treasures of the Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur
Edited by Chandramani Singh

This catalogue showcases the treasures of the Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Description:
The Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur, Rajasthan, is one of the finest museums of the 19th century with a repository of 19000 ... Read More
 4 Mar 2012 Rare Paintings
Alfred BASTIEN 1873-1955
French
LE MAHARAJA ET SES ELEPHANTS A LA PROCESSION DU FESTIVAL DE DUSSEHRA A MYSORE
Signed A.Bastien. lower right

The Kingdom of Mysore was ruled by the Wodeyar dynasty from 1399 until the independence of India in 1947 and the subsequent dissolution of monarchy by the... Read More
 27 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Sikh woodcut; Guru Nanak with followers, Punjab, ca. 1870.

Guru Nanak is sitting under a tree with followers and attendants. The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak was born in 1469 near Lahore.

This group contains 196 prints, paintings, and pen and pencil drawings from Amritsar, Lahore, B... Read More
 25 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Front view of Metcalfe House (top left), Rear view of Metcalfe House (bottom left), The principal taikhana of Metcalfe House (top right), Second taikhana of Metcalfe House (bottom right) -

From 'Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi’, an album consisting of 89 folios containing approximately 130 pa... Read More
 9 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
The temple above the Yamapuri cave, Mahabalipuram - 1825

Watercolour of the temple above the Yamapuri cave at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, by John Gantz. Inscribed: 'South View of a Small Temple on the Southernmost eminence of the Hill at Mahabalipoorum. J. Gantz'.

John Gantz (1772-1853) and... Read More
 9 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Gouache painting on paper (watermarked 1814) from a set of twelve paintings of deities. The deity Garuḍa, crowned, winged and holding a lotus in his left hand - 1814

Painted in Tanjore.

Source: British Museum Read More
 9 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Surf breaking over the beach by the temples at Mamallapuram - 1805

Watercolour of a general view of the Shore Temple and beach at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, by Elisha Trapaud, c. 1805. Inscribed on front in ink: 'E.T. 1805'; on back in ink:' The Seven Pagodas. 30 Miles South of Madras.'

Ma... Read More
 8 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Watercolour drawing of a standing Brahmin priest annotated in top right corner 'Copae Brahmin' The figure wears a pale blue scarf over a bare chest and a pink lunghi. He carries a conch in his right hand and has a shaved head plus knot of hair - 1857.

This album gives detailed visual depiction... Read More
 8 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
The Elephant Pen, and wild Elephant taming - 1855

Watercolour with pen and ink of the taming of a wild elephant in a large wooden arena at Amarapura from 'A Series of Views in Burmah taken during Major Phayre’s Mission to the Court of Ava in 1855' by Colesworthy Grant. This album consists of 1... Read More
 8 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Watercolour drawing of a standing Brahmin priest annotated in top right corner 'Burmah Malabar Brahmin' The figure wears a pale blue scarf over a bare chest and a pink lungi. He carries a conch in his right hand and wears a pale blue headdress - 1853.

Source: V&A, London Read More
 8 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting; watercolour, The Shwehmawdaw Pagoda, Pegu, Burma, ca. 1795 - ca. 1805.

Source: V&A, London Read More
 3 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Wooden cabinet inlaid with ivory, made in Gujarat or Sindh, 1680-1750. Wooden stand inlaid with ivory, English, 1750s.

Wooden cabinet on stand. This two-door cabinet opens up to reveal 22 drawers inside. The front of the cabinet is decorated with Mughal style floral motifs. The drawers are dec... Read More
 3 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
A bearded man stands obliquely against a landscape, leaning on a long sword of European style, dressed in baggy trousers, white shirt with soft ruffle and open at the neck, European style jacket and black velvet cap. In the background are two hills with small figures climbing up the paths towards... Read More
 3 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Depiction of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, forty days after his birth - 1600.

Contact between Europe and the Mughals began in 1573, when the emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605) led his forces into Gujarat and captured the great port city of Surat. Here, he encounter... Read More
 2 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
The Advent of Spring by Kshitendranath Majumdar, painting, watecolour, Bengal, 1910-1920

The scene depicts a young woman dressed in a white sari sitting beneath a tree on a terrace near some water. She holds a lota (waterpot) in one hand.

Kshitindranath Majumdar (1891-1975) was an influenti... Read More
 1 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
A woman eloping with her lover on an elephant.
Ragamala picture: 1600-1800 AD
Mughal, Watercolour and gilt on paper

Source: The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Read More
 1 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Watercolour and gold on paper, Scroll drawing of ten incarnationa of Vishnu, South India - ca. 1771 - ca. 1779

Marks and inscriptions:

'1. The Fish denotes the fatal day / When Earth beneath the Waters lay. / Macha Awataram' The fish incarnation of Vishnu (Matsya avatara)
'2. Th'amphibious Tur... Read More
 1 Feb 2012 Rare Paintings
Album of Indian paintings and calligraphy, dating mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries, containing nature studies, genre scenes, and some Hindu devotional images.

Parvati and Shiva seated on a tiger skin; the blue-skinned Vishnu seated on a lotus flower holding his four attributes: a conch ... Read More
 31 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Painting; gouache and watercolour, Three South Indian couples, from an album of 30 Company paintings, Tanjore, ca. 1830

One of a volume of thirty folios, three religious mendicant couples are here depicted.

The pictures made by Indian artists for the British in India are called Company paintin... Read More
 31 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Paintings; Watercolour on English paper, Two draughtsman at work, Madras, ca. 1785

Two draughtsmen at work seated on European chairs at a table. One holds dividers and a pen, the other a ruler. In the foreground are three assistants.

This is a page from the Boileau Album. The album contains... Read More
 31 Jan 2012 Rare Paintings
Scroll painting showing Hindu deities, Andhra or Tamilnadu, ca. 1771 or ca. 1779.

This is a detail from a horizontal scroll-painting depicting Hindu deities. It is a Company painting (the name given to paintings made by Indian artists for the British in India). William Marsden, who served in S... Read More