Untitled

Unknown

1878–1883 · Lithograph, printed in black and hand-coloring with watercolor and selectively applied glaze · Asian Art

The goddess of learning, music and the arts is readily identified by the golden vina she rests on her shoulder and the bundle of palm-leaf books with their wooden covers and colored binding cords that she holds on her knee. As described in the iconographic sources, she has a white complexion and wears a gold-trimmed white sari, sits upon a white lotus that rises from a lotus pond. She rests one foot on her celestial vehicle, the white swan, the other on a white lotus foot-rest. The landscape setting combines lush forest with a palm tree and icy mountain ranges beyond, the latter alluding to Shiva’s abode.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1878–1883

Medium

Lithograph, printed in black and hand-coloring with watercolor and selectively applied glaze

Culture

West Bengal, Calcutta

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Barbara and David Kipper Gift, 2021