AN ETCHED PORTRAIT OF SHIVA NATARAJA (THE LORD OF DANCE) ON PALM LEAVES
Thanjavur (Tanjore), Tamil Nadu, South India, 20th century

Black ink and pencil on palm leaf, the vertical composition depicting the Hindu god Shiva in his Nataraja form performing the Tandavam dance and squashing the dwarf of ignorance, one hand holding the damaru drum and the latter the eternal flame, in the foreground a decorative frieze with the motif of Nandi, Shiva's vahana, the scene framed within a lobed arch flanked by makaras and flying apsaras, the back plain, 49.5cm x 37.5cm.