A CARVED SANDALWOOD CARD CASE WITH HINDU DEITIES
Mysore, Karnataka, Southern India, 19th century

Of rectangular shape, the exterior finely carved with overlapping decorative bands, one side featuring a pair of parrots perched on a palanquin and baby Krishna dancing on a naga (snake), the latter with a fierce kirtimukha above a prayer scene with two mythical beings with human bodies and nagas tails worshipping five stylised lotus flowers emerging from a stepped pedestal, at the bottom a small quadruped with a long, bushy tail and a lotus flower composition on the opposite side, all set against a dense foliate ground, each cartouche surrounded by a continuous decorative band with stylised flower heads set in diamond-shaped medallions, 11.5cm x 7.2cm.