THE GODDESS SARASWATI ON HER VAHANA
Possibly Jodhpur (Mewar), Rajasthan, North-Western India, circa 1880 - 1920

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on wasli wove paper, the vertical composition depicting the four-armed Hindu Goddess of Knowledge, Music and Art, Saraswati, riding a stylised white bird, possibly a swan her traditional vahana (mount), each hand holding one of the typical attributes including the vina (stringed musical instrument), a lotus flower, and a pustaka (book or script, usually the Vedas), the mala (rosary, garland) held in the beak of the bird, set within brown rules, and yellow and red borders, the recto with inscriptions in black ink and a fainted circular stamp, set on a dark orange cardboard mount, 31cm x 22.5cm excluding the mount.