Dusmanta Garlanding Shakumtala

Dushyanta garlands Shakuntala — the meeting that opens Kalidasa's Abhijnanashakuntalam, among the great love stories of the Sanskrit canon. It is painted with the directness Kalighat is loved for: sweeping contour, flat pools of colour, and nothing behind the figures to compete with the gesture.

In the 1800s, village scroll-painters known as patuas moved into Kolkata and settled near the Kalighat temple, selling swift, inexpensive paintings to pilgrims. What began as devotional souvenirs became a tradition in its own right — one that Jamini Roy and other modern Indian painters would later draw on. The original is worked in gum tempera, graphite, ink and tin on paper, the tin lending a faint metallic shimmer.

Faithfully restored to its original brilliance and printed archivally — ready to frame.

• Museum-quality giclée on enhanced matte paper
• Framed sizes: 12×16, 18×24 and 24×36 in — Black, Red Oak or White frame
• Also available as an unframed fine-art paper print
• Warm-white mat, ready to hang
• Origin: Kalighat, Kolkata, Bengal — c. 1890
• Free shipping