Shiva and Parvati with Their Children Ganesha and Karttikeya (Skanda)

Object Details

• Court

  Kangra Court

• School/Tradition

  Pahari school

• Provenance

  At least late 1965-1966

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964), New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1966

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See letter from Richard Ettinghausen to Nasli Heeramaneck, dated December 21, 1965, copy in object file. In Richard Ettinghausen’s letter, he asks Nasli Heeramaneck to send this object to the Freer Gallery of Art in the new year so they can be examined. The object is described as, “Shiva with Parvati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya, Kangra [school].”

  See also incoming receipt, dated January 11, 1966, copy in object file. The object was transferred from Heeramaneck Galleries to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on January 11, 1966.

  Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY owned and operated by Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (née Arvine) (1910-1993). The Heeramaneck’s were dealers and collectors of Pre-Columbian and Asian art. Nasli Heeramaneck began his career as a dealer in Paris during the 1920s and relocated to New York, NY in 1927. In 1939, Nasli married Alice Arvine, an American portrait painter from New Haven, CT. Nasli founded Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY by 1928. He began to retire in 1964 and liquidated some of the gallery’s stock at auction at Parke-Barnet, New York in 1964 and 1965. Many objects from the Heeramaneck collection were either purchased or donated to American museums. Items from their collection may be found in The British Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of New Delhi; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and Yale University.

  [2] See object file for copy of the Heeramaneck Galleries invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated July 9, 1966, and marked approved on July 14, 1966.  Object is described as, “Indian painting of Shiva with Parvati, Ganesha, and Kartikeya, Kangra school, 18th century A.D.”

  Research updated November 3, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964)

• Origin

  Kangra, Punjab Hills, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1830s

• Name

  Heeramaneck Galleries

• Place

  Punjab Hills, Kangra, India

• Topic

  Warrior, Art, Ganesha, Elephants, Mountains, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Peacock, Animals, Parvati, Bulls, Karttikeya, Family, Shiva

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings