Attributed to Kripal (active 1660-1690) Search this
Medium:
Opaque watercolor, gold, silver and beetle wing cases on paper
Dimensions:
H x W: 21.7 x 21.5 cm (8 9/16 x 8 7/16 in)
Type:
Painting
Origin:
Basohli, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab Hills, India
Date:
ca. 1660-1670
Court:
Basohli Court
School/Tradition:
Pahari school
Label:
The fearsome goddess Kali, the "Dark One," is dressed in splendid garments, adorned with jewels and framed by a halo of fiery brilliance. An image of both destruction and beneficence, she brandishes a variety of weapons, but in one of her eight hands holds a lotus flower, a symbol of grace and purity. Standing upon a prostrate male, Kali is visualized as the supreme Shakti, or female force. In recognition of Kali's immense power, the three principal gods of Hinduism--Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva--stand in subservient devotion.
Basohli artists created a unique female type with rounded faces and predatory eyes. Typical of the Basohli style is the use of raised white paint to accentuate pearl ornaments and beetle wings to suggest emeralds. Also characteristic are the rich, bold colors.
Provenance:
?-1925
Radha Krishna Bharany (ca. 1877-1942), method of acquisition unknown [1]
1925-?
Unidentified individual, American, purchased from Radha Krishna Bharany [2]
?-1984
Terence McInerney, New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [3]
From 1984
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Terence McInerney [4]
Notes:
[1] See letter from Terence McInerney to Milo C. Beach, dated October 20, 1984, copy in object file. Terence McInerney’s letter states that this object “has been in America, remarkably enough, since about 1925 (when it was purchased by an enterprising and wealthy tourist from Radhakrishna Bharany[, a dealer in Amistar, India]).”
Radha Krishna Bharany (ca. 1877-1942) (aka R. K. Bharany) was a dealer and collector of Indian textile and painting based in Amritsar, India. His son, Chhotelal (C. L.) Bharany, also became a dealer and a collector of Indian art across various genres but is best known for specializing in Indian paintings. C. L. Bharany inherited and expanded upon his father’s personal collection, and, in 2014, he gave objects from the joint collection to the National Museum in Kolkata. See “A Passionate Eye: Textiles, Paintings, and Sculptures from the Bharany Collections” [book], ed. Giles Tillotson (Mumbai: The Marg Foundation, 2014).
[2] See note 1.
[3] See incoming receipt, dated October 10, 1984, copy in object file. The object was transferred from Terence McInerney to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on October 10, 1984.
Terence G. McInerney is a dealer specializing in Indian and Islamic paintings in New York, NY. McInerney’s businesses included Greater India Company, Inc. (active 1974-1991) in Cambridge, MA and Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd. (active 1990-2013) in New York, NY.
[4] See object file for copy of Terence McInerney invoice to Freer Gallery of Art and marked approved on November 14, 1984.
Research updated June 28, 2023
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Female Imagery in Indian Painting (February 9 to August 5, 1996)
South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)
The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)
