Punjab, India NWHSA: MET104 has long been known as a “trivet” in the collection. There […]

Bombay, India Late 19th Century Vibrant colours and spectacular form with beautiful motifs – this […]

A-le are bronze weights from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Popularly – and incorrectly – labelled as […]

In Balasore district of Orissa in India, a newlywed couple are given a pair of […]

A pidha is a low chair with or without armrests and an upright back. The lathe […]

Cloth of the Mother Goddess Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 20th century, T557.4 Our object in focus is a mata-ni-pachedi from Making […]

This month we look at two miniature paintings currently on display together. Sitar by Ramesh Sharma, […]

A palungun is a long chest. This one is 188 cm long and is carved […]

We have re-opened!  To celebrate we would like to take a closer look a few of our […]

Our object of month is the Buddha Calling the Earth to Witness. The similarity of […]

A dablo is a form of storage container used by the Kathi community of southern Gujarat. Dabla (plural) come […]

This temple hanging is from Gujarat in Northwest India. It has been made using a […]

Company School paintings, early 19th century In the early 19th century, Indian miniature painters found a […]

Buddhist Thrones, Burma, Early 20th Century This intricate wood carved Buddhist monk’s throne, dating from […]

Pithora Paintings, Gujarat, Early 21st Century Pithora paintings are traditionally painted on the walls of […]

Vishnu and Garuda, early 20th century, Balinese This carved and painted wooden figure of Vishnu […]

Stereoscopes were popular through the Victorian and Edwardian eras, providing people with entertaining[…]

Yashoda, is the foster mother of Krishna, as described in the Puranic Hindu texts. This […]

Samovars originated in Russia to boil and heat water but these large urn-shaped samovars are […]

Later, King Hiranyakashipu had a son, Prahlad, who chose to worship Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu was incensed. […]

The South Asia Collection Museum is housed in an architectural gem, a Grade II listed Victorian roller-skating […]

Mahananda, A Lithograph By Ravi Varma, c1920s Apart from the gods, Ravi Varma also painted […]

Jain panel, Live and Let Live Late 20th century India This carved and painted Jain […]

Despite their elaborate appearance, wayang kulit puppets are designed for shadow puppetry. Wayang kulit is […]

Bandhani textiles Gujarat, India Bandhani is a general term applied to Indian tie-dyed textiles but […]

Woodcutters Jeypore. 1914. Etching. Mortimer Menpes We are about to launch Menpes Etchings, an exhibition […]

This chyrpy, currently on display at The South Asia Collection, has an intricate and detailed design featuring motifs of deer, peacocks and tulips[…]

2019 marks forty years since the founding of The South Asia Collection. In a week […]

Swat is a mountainous district of northern Pakistan. Traditionally, woodworkers were held in great esteem […]

Lion vahana, mount of Goddess Durga Polychrome wooden sculpture, 20th century, Tamil Nadu, India  We […]

Nagaland has a strong warrior tradition and headhunting was a significant part of its culture for many years. Strict rules surrounded the practice of headhunting. For example, heads would […]

A brand new book from the collaborative Vernacular Furniture of N-W India project, Sahaj: Vernacular Furniture of Gujarat, the first book of its kind. Co-authored by our Collection Curator, Ben Cartwright, alongside Mitraja Bais, Jay Thakkar and Samrudha Dixit. The Gujarati term Sahaj can mean either ‘inherent’ or […]

In July this year, The South Asia Collection received a donation of 142 Rabari textiles, originally […]

Here, at The South Asia Collection we are big believers in the need to be […]

This courtyard scene was painted by the Scottish watercolour artist Nancy Jane Burton, who travelled widely through Kashmir, Pakistan (which would have been northern India in the period Nancy was there, before Independence) and Afghanistan between 1932 and 1936. 1936. This painting is currently on display as part of the new exhibition, Nancy Jane […]

This woman’s dress or jumlo is made from a woven black cotton fabric and is finely embroidered with silk […]

The Object of the Month for June 2018 is the tinted lithograph, Ancient Temple, Pundruttun, by Mrs H. Clark, which is currently on display at The South Asia Collection. It was printed by J. Needham on behalf of Day & Son as part of a set […]

Kalamkaris originated in Persia (present day Iran) where qalam meant pen and kari 
meant craftwork. Originally the design was hand drawn onto the cotton cloth using a bamboo pen. But during the 19th century when demand and exports increased, block printing techniques became […]

This landscape by Burmese artist Maung Htun Hla depicts a sailboat on a Burmese river. […]

Oil lamps have a significant role in the Hindu religion and are found both at […]