Shiva and His Goddess, Colonial India, Late 19th Century

A late nineteenth-century Indian painting of Shiva and his consort, set beside a pool with reeds and a tiger among them. Despite the European influences at work in the period, painters continued to produce traditional Indian religious and mythological subjects; works made by Indian artists for British patrons, often employees of the East India Company, are sometimes described as Company paintings.

The painting is executed in opaque watercolors on heavy, firm wove paper. Gouache, unlike transparent watercolor, gives a solid, vibrant color well suited to detailed work, allowing layering and correction. Traditional Indian painters commonly used natural pigments drawn from minerals and plants, bound with a medium such as gum arabic, and applied with fine brushes, often of squirrel hair.

The setting of pool, reeds, and tiger is rich with symbolism drawn from Hindu mythology and the natural world, reflecting the harmony between the divine and the environment.

The image area measures approximately 15 × 10¼ in (38 × 26 cm), within a wide dark brown painted border and a narrow grayish band; overall approximately 23 × 18 in (58 × 46 cm). The reverse carries penciled numbers at the lower right. The painting was formerly in an old glazed wood frame, which had become unstable and from which it was removed to prevent damage.