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Asian art

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Title

Shiva and his family

1780-1800

Artists

Unknown Artist

An image of Shiva and his family by

About

This is a family portrait of the Hindu god Shiva on Mount Kailasha. Shiva sits on a leopard skin with dishevelled hair, a sign of his ascetic practices. He is surrounded by his wife Parvati, his elephant-headed son, Ganesha, and multi-headed son, Karttikeya, who play the musical instruments vina and drums. Shiva’s bull mount, Nandi, Ganesha's rat mount and Karttikeya's peacock mount relax around the group.

Details

Place where the work was made

India

Date

1780-1800

Materials used

opaque watercolour (gouache) on paper

Dimensions

26.0 x 19.2 cm

Credit

Gift of Dr Nigel and Mrs Norma Hawkins 2010. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program

Location

Not on display

Accession number

27.2010

Reproduction requests

Place

Where the work was made
India
Shown in 2 exhibitions

Exhibition history

  • One hundred flowers (2011), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 01 Sep 2011–15 Jan 2012

  • Glorious, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 May 2017–06 Jan 2019

Provenance

Dr Nigel and Mrs Norma Hawkins, pre Feb 2010, Australia, gift to the Art Gallery of New South Wales by Dr Nigel and Mrs Norma Hawkins, Australia, 2010.

Referenced in 1 publication

Bibliography

Jill Sykes (Editor), Look, 'Love in India' byJackie Menzies, pg.12-13, Sydney, Oct 2014, 13(colour illus.).