THE TIGER GOD AND DEATH’S KINGDOM
SANTAL PARGANAS, INDIA, BIHAR, DUMKA SUBDIVISION, CIRCA 1920
£2,772
Auction: Indian Paintings from the Collection of William & Mildred Archer | Lots 84 to 152 | 12 June at 10am
Description
sections of scroll paintings by a painting of the chitrakar caste, watercolour on paper, each mount inscribed with place of origin
Dimensions
45cm x 33cm (17 6/8in x 13in); 31cm x 20cm (12 ¼in x 7 7/8in)
Footnote
Exhibited and Literature:
Mildred Archer, Indian Miniatures and Folk Paintings, Arts Council of Great Britain Touring Exhibition Catalogue, 1967, no. 77.
Mildred Archer, Indian paintings from court, town and village, Arts Council of Great Britain Touring Exhibition Catalogue, 1970, no. 75.
Lots 106 to 110 were collected by the Archers between 1942 and 1946. They are scroll paintings by the Jadupatua caste of Santal Parganas, the largest tribe of Eastern India. Mildred writes, ‘These scrolls were not intended for sale but rather to equip the artist for a second important function – that of a wandering minstrel.’ The jadupatua would wander from one village to another, gather an audience and slowly unwind their scroll to illustrate their somewhat amateurish constructions of their legends. The scrolls illustrate subjects including the life of Krishna among the cowherds (Lots 108, 109), Death’s kingdom showing the tortures of the damned (Lot 106) and a god who rules tigers, amongst others. Bill and Mildred were so enchanted by these scrolls that they divided them into panels for exhibition. Many examples were exhibited by the Arts Council of Great Britain throughout the country between 1967 and 1969.