Ancient Indian Art

A remarkable selection of these beautiful paintings, now at auction with

Image 1: Goddess Saraswati, Bengal school, early 20th century, India( Lot 108)
51 x 40.5cm.
Provenance: Private London collection, Published Sothebys, 8 June 2000

Image 2: Krishna and Radha playing with a marigold,
Kangra or Guler, North India, 18th century(Lot 47)
23.2 x 17.9cm.
Provenance : With Arthur Tooth Gallery

A remarkable selection of these beautiful paintings, now at auction with
Image 1: Saraswati,
oil on canvas(Lot 108)
Bengal school, early 20th century, India
51 x 40.5cm.
Provenance: Private London collection, Published
Sothebys, 8 June 2000

Image 2:Krishna and Radha playing with a marigold,
Kangra or Guler, North India, 18th century( Lot 47)
23.2 x 17.9cm.
Provenance : With Arthur Tooth Gallery

Auction Alert! Modern Indian artworks on auction at

Image 1(Lot 145)
Somnath H**e (Indian, 1921-2006),
Untitled, sculpture in bronze,
bronze, signed and dated S.H. ‘90 to base,
44.5 x 12.5 x 12.5cm.
Provenance: Private Collection Australia

Image 2(Lot 146)
Rabin Mondal (Indian, 1929-2019),
Untitled, Face, 2003
Acrylic on paper, signed and dated lower right ‘6-12-03’
35.5 x 27.7cm
Provenance: Private Collection Australia

Image 3(Lot 134)
Attupurathu Mathew Abraham (Abu), (Indian,1924-2002),
Moscow, 1959; and Beersheba,
27 x 21cm. and 25.5 x 16cm

Sandstone arches of Agra Fort
By Edwin Lord Weeks(1849-1903)
c. 1885-95

Image: Brooklyn Museum

The Miracle of Shravasti, 2nd century, ancient Gandhara region

Buddha sits in meditation while performing miracle of emitting fire from his body(flames rising from behind his shoulders). Though the episode contained ‘twin miracles’ where Buddha emitted Fire and Water from his body at the same time, but here we see only flames rising.

Part of the exhibition “The Light and the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One”.

Mahaparinirvana, 2nd century
Gandhara(Loriya-Tangai)

This beautiful schist panel from Gandhara region depicts the final passing of the Buddha callelled Mahaparinirvana, surrounded by different devotees.

Part of the ongoing exhibition “The Light and The Lotus – Relics of the Awakened One”.

Finally visited this beautiful exhibition. The ongoing exhibition “The Light & the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One” brings together the sacred Piprahwa relics associated with Lord Buddha in a rare and deeply moving display of India’s Buddhist heritage. Held at the Rai Pithora Cultural Complex, the exhibition marks the historic reunification of relics that returned to India after more than a century. It presents an extraordinary collection of gem relics, reliquaries, manuscripts, sculptures, and archaeological objects connected to the life and teachings of the Buddha.

What makes the exhibition especially significant is its immersive curatorial approach. Through digital reconstructions, audio-visual installations, and thematic galleries, visitors are invited to journey through the spiritual and artistic legacy of Buddhism. The exhibition not only highlights the archaeological importance of the Piprahwa discoveries but also reflects the enduring relevance of compassion, peace, and enlightenment in contemporary times.

The Piprahwa relics, discovered in 1898 near the ancient site believed to be Kapilavastu, are considered among the most sacred Buddhist relics in the world. Their public display has transformed the exhibition into both a cultural landmark and a spiritual experience for scholars, devotees, and visitors alike.

Chamunda, 10th-11th century

This is a fragment of a full-length sculpture portraying the ferocious Hindu goddess Kali in the form of Chamunda, an epithet derived from her act of decapitating the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda embodies bareness and decay. Her hair is piled up into a chignon decorated with a tiara of skulls and a crescent moon. She scowls, baring her teeth, and enormous eyeballs protrude menacingly from sunken sockets in her skeletal face. As a necklace, she wears a snake whose coils echo the rings of decaying flesh that sag beneath her collarbone. Just above her navel on her emaciated torso is a scorpion, a symbol of sickness and death. She presumably once held lethal objects in the hands of her twelve missing arms.

Chamunda is naked except for a short diaphanous dhoti partially covering the two tiger skins complete with heads that hang from her waist to her knees. Although her extremities are missing, it is clear from comparison with related images that this Chamunda stood with legs straight, the right turned outward. The starkness and uncompromising horror of this sculpture are representative of one aspect of Indian theology.

Like images of Shiva in his dark form of Bhairava, such macabre images of the Goddess are common occupants of the exterior walls of temples. They appear both on shrines dedicated to Shiva and those to the Goddess herself.

Source:

Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait”, Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painted by Chitarman Indian
dated c. 1627–28
The presentation of the emperor amplifies the formula evolved during the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir. Shah Jahan is exquisitely dressed and richly adorned with jewels, his imperial rank emphasized by his radiating halo and the hovering angels borrowed from European art. The skills of many craftsmen and designers of the Mughal court—jewelers, weavers, architects, feather workers, armorers, stonecutters, and others—are represented here. This is Chitarman’s earliest dated picture, painted soon after Shah Jahan’s accession.

Source: MET