Untitled

Unknown

Late 18th century · Painted pigments (kalamkari) and glued gold on cotton · Asian Art

This painted textile represents the lower border of a large scale and high quality picchavai, a devotional temple hanging. Dedicated to the veneration of Lord Krishna as Shrinathji, believed to be a self-manifested form of Vishnu that appeared as a black stone icon of his avatar as Krishna. Traditionally much venerated by rural worshippers, and especially those associated with cowherds, a genre of painted cloth emerged, employed as backdrops to the black stone icon, and as substitutes for it when worshipped away from Nathdwara. This panel has a series of vignettes depicting a range of devotional scenes associated with Krishna’s youthful adventures, as recounted in the Bhagavad Purana.

Artist

Unknown

Date

Late 18th century

Medium

Painted pigments (kalamkari) and glued gold on cotton

Culture

India, Rajasthan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Yukikazu and Kimiko Iwasa, in memory of Seizaburo and Shizuko Iwasa, 2019