INDIA, RAJASTHAN, MEWAR, CIRCA 1700-1720

Ganesha sits snacking on a bowl of sweets while his consorts Riddhi and Siddhi fan him with feathery flywhisks. His vahana, the Indian bandicoot rat, sits eagerly, waiting to feast on the crumbs falling from his trunk. His parents, Shiva and Parvati, sit in the background beneath a bower of garlands, accompanied by their vehicles, divine bull Nandi and Parvati’s liger. The present folio is numbered “1,” as is expected for a folio representing Ganesha, the god of auspicious beginning. Most illustrated series on Indian epics opened with an invocation to the god for good fortune. As is common in the Mewar convention, Ganesha's body is highly anthropomorphized, while his face retains his orange skin.