FOUR FOLKISH STUDIES OF HINDU DEITIES
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Possibly Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal or Odisha (Orissa), Eastern India, ca. 1880 - 1920

Opaque pigments, pencil and ink on paper pasted on board, the large vertical composition depicting four studies in a naive hand of Hindu deities and literary characters under cusped and polylobed arches including Krishna playing the flute; the multi-headed evil King of Lanka, Ravana; the Pandava Brothers from the Mahabharata; and Rama and Sita enthroned with their courtiers surrounding them; most characters accompanied and identified by a black ink inscription in Odiya script, in the middle another inscription reading Jatna Saha Rakhiba Darkar ("it has to be kept carefully"), 56cm x 45.5cm.