TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A TANTRIC DEVI SERIES
Possibly Odisha (Orissa), North-Eastern India, ca. 1890 - 1910

Opaque pigments, ink and pencil on wove paper, comprising two vertically arranged, illustrated folios from a Tantric Devi Series, the first folio with a black-haired, naked Devi with wings, fangs, and large blood-red eyes, holding a trident (trisula), possibly a manifestation of Kali, one of the ten Mahavidyas, below her two male characters holding a spear and white cloth, the background filled with black ink Devanagari inscriptions, two lines of bold script in the rectangular cartouche at the bottom, mounted, glazed and framed, 39cm x 32cm including the frame; and a similar folio with a form of Chhinnamasta, the self-decapitated Goddess, also winged and naked, holding her attributes in the hands, a line of bold black ink Devanagari script in the rectangular cartouche at the top, mounted, glazed and framed, 39cm x 32cm including the frame.