Accession Number
1985/2.144

Title
Oriya manuscript (unidentified), leaf: A Meeting in the Forest (pair with 1997/2.40)

Artist(s)
Indian

Artist Nationality
Indian (South Asian)

Object Creation Date
19th century

Medium & Support
charcoal dust and washes of color on incised palm leaf

Dimensions
1 5/16 in x 9 7/16 in (3.4 cm x 24 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink

Label copy
Orissa is located on the eastern coast of India, and thus quite far from the centers of imperial Mughal power at Delhi and Agra, as well as from the Rajput states in the Mughal sphere. Painting in Orissa retained a distinctive style of its own, with strong emphasis on a lively line; and Orissa is one of the few areas that continued to use palm leaves (rather than paper) as a support for manuscripts until relatively recent times.
The inherently small scale of a manuscript page requires a simplified style with figures and plant forms against a plain background. This scene represents the meeting of a man and a woman (accompanied by attendants) in the forest, but the narrative has yet to be identified.
Exhibited in "Divine Encounters, Earthly Pleasures: Twenty Centuries of Indian Art" at UMMA, 12/12/03–2/22/04.

Subject matter
Orissa is located on the eastern coast of India, and thus quite far from the centers of imperial Mughal power at Delhi and Agra, as well as from the Rajput states in the Mughal sphere. Painting in Orissa retained a distinctive style of its own, with strong emphasis on a lively line; and Orissa is one of the few areas that continued to use palm leaves (rather than paper) as a support for manuscripts until relatively recent times.
This narrative has yet to be identified.

Physical Description
The inherently small scale of a manuscript page requires a simplified style with figures and plant forms against a plain background. This scene represents the meeting of a man and a woman (accompanied by attendants) in the forest.

Primary Object Classification
Unbound Work

Primary Object Type
leaf

Additional Object Classification(s)
Painting

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
Figures
Text-based Art
calligraphy (process)
leaf
leaf (metal)
manuscripts