Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

Unknown Artist, India
The Dark Aspect of the Great Goddess Devi

19th century

$1,500
£1,139.29
€1,310.39
CA$2,095.79
A$2,337.05
CHF 1,219.37
MX$28,676.45
NOK 15,520.66
SEK 14,705.49
DKK 9,779.91
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

The Dark Aspect of the Great Goddess Devi Pigment on paper (unfinished), 19th century Unsigned as is usual Condition: Good color Voids at edges of the sheet Image size: 6 x 7 1/4 inches Provenance: Flora and Elwood Glass, Jr. Collection Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987 De-accessed 2013 The Great Goddess Devi Bruce Hathaway June 1999, Courtesy Smithsonian Magazine ________________________________________ She has a thousand names and faces — and countless tasks and talents. Even as a fierce warrior heroically slaying the most vicious demons, she retains her composure and radiant beauty. Westerners accustomed to a "Heavenly Father," and to seeing virginal, subdued images of the Madonna, might find Devi and her wildly vigorous feminine power quite startling. For many Hindus, however, Devi's greatest strength is that she embodies all aspects of womanhood. In the vast pantheon, she is in the top tier, as powerful as the male gods Vishnu and Shiva. Mother goddess of India and local protector for innumerable villages, she can be quiet and nurturing. But she is also a cosmic force, addressing the creation and destruction of worlds. On occasion she is voluptuous and alluring — a playful temptress, a passionate lover. Before exams, Hindu pupils pray to her, incarnated as Sarasvati, the goddess of music and learning. Devi blesses her devotees with fortune and success. Her most renowned victory is the slaying of a buffalo demon, a brutishly ignorant, bloated egotist. Before Devi came to the rescue, he had defeated a host of benevolent gods. With one of her 18 arms, at the height of the battle, she effortlessly pulls the demon out of his buffalo body with a red noose. Her mount, a tiger, gnaws the head. All the while, Devi is garbed in the gilded and embroidered costume of a Punjab Hills princess. In the clouds above, gods celebrate her triumph by tossing down golden blossoms.
  • Creator:
    Unknown Artist, India (Indian)
  • Creation Year:
    19th century
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 6 in (15.24 cm)Width: 7.25 in (18.42 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Fairlawn, OH
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: FA95851stDibs: LU14013160342

More From This Seller

View All
Palace with Vignettes of Scenes of Royal Court Life
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Palace with Vignettes of Scenes of Royal Court Life Early 19th century Rajput School Gouache on heavy paper, mounted to gold flecked support board c. 1820 Unsigned as usual Inscribed...
Category

1820s Rajput Landscape Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Dharma Prayer Book Manuscript Folio
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Dharma Prayer Book Manuscript Folio Ink and gouache on handmade paper, 1875-1925) Miniature depicting Tibetan deity Script is Tibetan. Miniature Size: 2 3/8 x 1 ½ inches Part of a se...
Category

Early 20th Century Other Art Style Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Dharma Prayer Book Manuscript Folio
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Dharma Prayer Book Manuscript Folio Ink and gouache on handmade paper, 1875-1925) Miniature depicting Tibetan deity Script is Tibetan. Miniature Size: 2 3/8 x 1 ½ inches Part of a se...
Category

Early 20th Century Other Art Style Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

The Wife of a Barber
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Paintings on mica originating in India were produced in standard sets for the colonial tourist market. They imitated paintings on glass, which were popular in Europe. Subject matter included Hindu...
Category

Mid-19th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Dharma Prayer Book Manuscript Folio
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Dharma Prayer Book Manuscript Folio Ink and gouache on handmade paper, 1875-1925) Miniature depicting Tibetan deity Script is Tibetan. Miniature Size: 2 3/8 x 1 ½ inches Part of a se...
Category

Early 20th Century Other Art Style Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Two Miniatures and text from the "Legend of Phra Malai"
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Unknown Artist, Thailand, 19th century Two Miniatures and text from the "Legend of Phra Malai" Ink and color on paper, c, 1900 Unsigned as usual Script: Aksar Chrieng or Khmer These texts are written in Khom script, a variant of Khmer script often used in Central Thai religious manuscripts. Phra Malai was a Budhist monk whose meditations permitted him to travel to heaven and hell. Condition: Good, with minor staining to text Sight (window) size: 11-1/8 x 27 inches Frame size: 19-3/4 x 35 x 3/4 inches Framed in solid cherry wood with archival, acid free materials The legend of Phra Malai, a Buddhist monk of the Theravada tradition said to have attained supernatural powers through his accumulated merit and meditation, is the main text in this 19th-century Thai samut khoi (folding book) held in the Thai, Lao, and Cambodian Collections of the British Library. Phra Malai figures prominently in Thai art...
Category

19th Century Other Art Style Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pigment

You May Also Like

Kali, Figurative, Acrylic on Paper, Indian Contemporary Artist-In "Stock"
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Samik De - Kali Acrylic on Paper 12 x 17 inches, 2025 ( UNFRAMED & DELIVERED ) Style : Sekhar Kar's paintings depict men and women in swirling masses of color with cesspools of em...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Kali, Figurative, Acrylic on Paper, Indian Contemporary Artist-In "Stock"
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Samik De - Kali Acrylic on Paper 12 x 17 inches, 2025 ( UNFRAMED & DELIVERED ) Style : Sekhar Kar's paintings depict men and women in swirling masses of color with cesspools of em...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Devi.
Located in Zofingen, AG
“DEVI.” 50X70 CM. WATERCOLOR, PAPER. SERIES "MANIFESTATIONS OF DIVINE." “Devi” in Sanskrit means Goddess, celestial, divine. Among the world’s religions, Hinduism has upheld the conc...
Category

2010s Aesthetic Movement Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

An illustration to the musical mode of Patamanjari Ragini
Located in Maidenhead, GB
Jaipur School, c. 1840 An illustration to the musical mode of Patamanjari Ragini From a Ragamala series Gouache and gold on wasli paper 24.1 x 19.6 cm.; (within frame) 33.7 x 28.5 ...
Category

1840s Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Vintage Anglo Indian Pishhwai Painting of Krishna
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Enchanting vintage Anglo Indian Pishhwai gouache painting on cloth mounted on board, steeped in alagorical context, depicting Krishna dancing with villagers in a background of birds ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Folk Art Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Vintage Anglo Indian Pishhwai Painting of Krishna
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Enchanting vintage Anglo Indian Pishhwai gouache painting on cloth mounted on board, steeped in alagorical context, depicting Krishna dancing with villagers in a background of birds ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Paintings

Materials

Paint