A holy man with two tigers. Watercolour drawing, 186- (?).

Date:
[between 1860 and 1869?]
Reference:
35366i
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Credit

A holy man with two tigers. Watercolour drawing, 186- (?). Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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About this work

Description

"Illustration of a proverb, c. 1860-65. There are two conflicting interpretations of this baffling picture. One is that 'you cannot propitiate a tiger by prayer'. The other says - 'before a truely godly spirit even the wildest beasts of the forest are tame'. Two fully grown tigers holding offerings make obeisance to a holy man. Note a meek dove in the foreground bearing its own offering of a fruit in its beak"--Khanna, loc. cit.

Publication/Creation

[between 1860 and 1869?]

Physical description

1 drawing : watercolour, with silver ; sheet 46 x 28.3 cm

References note

Balraj Khanna, Kalighat: Indian popular painting 1800-1930, London 1993, no. 55 (a similar work in Oxford)

Notes

Kalighat painting is a school of painting in Kalighat, a small district in Calcutta. It is named after the celebrated Hindu goddess Kali. Kalighat painting originated from the folkart tradition of rural Bengal. The Patuas or picture makers had migrated from Bengal in the early nineteenth century. There are a range of subjects from religious imagery of Hindu gods, goddesses and stories to natural history, social types and proverbs. The range of materials used in drawing are pencil, watercolour, indian ink and silver paint

Reference

Wellcome Collection 35366i

Type/Technique

Subjects

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