Shiva and Parvati

Object Details

• Artist

  Chokha (active 1779-ca. 1826)

• Court

  Mewar Court

• School/Tradition

  Rajput school

• Description

  Chokha depicts the deities Shiva and Parvati relaxing against a large round pillow as if they were a ruler and his consort upon a palace terrace. Parvati, markedly smaller than the god, gazes at her husband with her hands raised in the gesture of respect and devotion. Shiva is recognizable through the iconographic attributes of ash-covered skin, third eye, skull necklace, serpents, trident and the Ganges river that emerges from his matted topknot in the form of a stream of water.

• Marks

  Watermark: S Wise & Co. 1825.

• Provenance

  To 2001

  Sir Howard Hodgkins (born 1932), London, to 2001 [1]

  From 2001

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Sir Howard Hodgkin in 2001

  Notes:

  [1] The object was probably acquired when Sir Howard Hodgkins formed his London collection in the 1960s, but the exact date of acquisition cannot be determined. However, because the object is a small, unfinished work from the early nineteenth century, it falls within a category of artworks that the Indian government typically allows out of the country (according to Curatorial Note 3, Debra Diamond, June 15, 2001, in the object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Sir Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017)

• Origin

  Udaipur or Devgarh, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India

• Credit Line

  Gift of Sir Howard Hodgkin

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1810s, 1820s

• Name

  Hodgkin, Howard

• Place

  Devgarh, Udaipur, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Parvati, Trident, Skull, Rivers, Shiva, Snakes

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings