Album of popular prints mounted on cloth pages. Colour lithograph, lettered, inscribed and numbered 18. Draupadi, the wife of all five Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata, is presented to a parcheesi game where Yudhishthira, the king of Hastinapura, had gambled away all his material wealth. He offered his wife in a bet; Draupadi prays to Krishna for protection while a court attendant attempts to remove her sari. This event was one of several instigating factors in the Mahabharata war.

Printed by: Chore Bagan Art Studio
Date: 1895 (circa)

The Chore Bagan studio produced popular prints for the mass market comparable to those being created at the larger Calcutta Art Studio. Lithography was gaining momentum as a medium for picture production in the 1870s, and the Chore Bagan studio, located in Bhoobun Bannerjee’s Lane, Calcutta, was active in the 1880s and 1890s. Images produced include depictions of Kali, the fight between Rama and Ravana, as well as prints depicting the followers of Chaitanya. Hand-written captions in English have been added to the Bengali letter-press of the majority (some letterpress also in Hindi). The majority of the prints in this album were produced in Calcutta and reflect Bengal devotional cults; the final four prints were published by the Ravi Varma Press from Lonavla, c. 1910.

See Christopher Pinney, 'Photos of the Gods' London 2004 for a comprehensive account of nineteenth century popular prints in India.

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