South Indian Paintings: A Catalogue of the British Museum's Collections (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780714124247)

The British Museum's collection of South Indian paintings consists of around 1000 items ranging from the 17th to the 20th century and representing a wide variety of themes and techniques. Only a very few examples from this major collection have been published before. In this book the collection will be catalogued in full, and 250 of the most important items will be reproduced in colour. The paintings will be described and listed according to the their topics (Hindu mythology; castes, trades and occupations; natural history drawings; painted narratives; India observed) and according to the medium on which they were executed (paper, cloth, leather, mica). Each section will begin with a brief introduction outlining the essential stylistic and iconographic features. Among this material are a number of highly interesting albums such as a set of 91 paintings depicting Hindu mythology, dating from the early decades of the 19th century. More unusual items are the long painted scrolls from Andhra illustrating local mythological narratives, the painted cloths from Tamil Nadu depicting the Ramayana epic, and paintings on paper used by the storytellers of northern Karnataka.

Author: Anna L. Dallapiccola
ISBN-10: 0714124249
ISBN-13: 9780714124247
Publisher: British Museum Press
Language: English
Published: 06/14/2010
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 3.50lbs
Size: 11.10h x 8.90w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2010 pg. 260