A double-sided decorated palm-leaf with scenes from the Ramayana, Orissa, early 19th or...

A double-sided decorated palm-leaf with scenes from the Ramayana, Orissa, early 19th or late 18th century, black ink and opaque pigment on palm-leaf, minor losses to ends, 4.5 x 40.3cm.

This palm leaf was drawn by incising the lines with a pointed stylus and rubbing black ink into the grooves. Various coloured pigments were then applied sparingly. There are some textual rubrics within the illustration, and decorated bands at the end of the leaf. Although this example dates from circa 1800, this traditional style of illustration hearkens back to much earlier examples from the 14th-16th centuries in India. The setting portrayed is simple, but filled with lively characterizations of human and animal figures.

Both sides depict demon armies on the march. One side we see twelve marching soldiers, each with a small buckler, carrying swords, spears and maces. They are led by four demon-women, two carrying weapons and two carrying and eating babies, as well as three musicians. On the other side we see three chariots, pulled by lions, eagles and elephants, and a mixture of marching demons and warriors mounted on horses or elephants.

Similar examples of Orissan palm-leaf pages are illustrated in Losty, J.P., Krishna: A Hindu Vision of God, London, 1980, and Das, P.J., and Williams, J., Palm-leaf Miniatures: the Art of Raghunath Prusti of Orissa, New Delhi, 1991. Many museums have examples of the style: an especially good leaf is in the Cleveland Museum (Leach, L.Y., Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings, The Cleveland Museum of Art., Cleveland, 1986, no. 96).