TWO LOOSE KASHMIRI MANUSCRIPT ILLUSTRATIONS
Kashmir, Northern India, 19th century

Opaque pigments, black ink, and gold on paper, comprising two manuscript illustrations depicting classical Hindu deities, on the left, a female goddess holding two trisula (tridents) riding a white elephant usually the mount of the God Indra, possibly a form of Indrani, his consort, or Parvati, connected to the God Shiva with the tridents, set within concentric orange, gold, and polychrome-painted floral borders; and on the right, the third of the Dashavatara of the God Vishnu, Varaha the Boar, holding his sword and the head of his enemy, the demon Hiranyaksha, his slaughtered body lying lifeless on the ground, set within similar concentric borders on gold ground, both illustrations mounted on orange cardboard frames, each 25cm x 20cm including the mount.