TWO ILLUSTRATIONS FROM A DEVI BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES: TWO MAHAVIDYA GODDESSES, CHHINNAMASTA AND TARA
Possibly Murshidabad school, West Bengal, Eastern India, early 19th century

Opaque pigments and ink heightened with gold on paper, comprising two individual vertical-format portraits depicting Chhinnamasta and Tara, two of the ten Hindu Tantric goddesses (Mahavidya), the first portrayed in her typical stance standing in the middle of the composition with a sword in one hand, her decapitated head in another, the latter two hands resting on the side, with gushes and jets of blood spurting out of her bleeding neck being drunk by her two attendants, Dakini and Varnini, standing on each side of the deity's body, above her severed neck an inscription in blue ink Devanagari script identifying the goddess, set within concentric polychrome rules and bright red borders, mounted, glazed, and framed, 39cm x 26cm including the frame; and another similar illustration of Tara, seated cross-legged on an unanimated male corpse, holding her traditional attributes including a long ceremonial sword and a trisula (trident), wearing a floral garland and a necklace of the severed heads of her enemies on her chest, with the same identifying inscription in blue ink Devanagari script above her head, set within concentric polychrome rules and bright red borders, mounted on a teal cardboard, 36.8cm x 24.5cm including the mount.