Osian's Auction Catalogue ABC Series III | March 2007

ABC Series III 162 196 Krishna Textile Label This textile label depicts Krishna as an Avatar of Vishnu, the Preserver or Supreme Being, reclining on the coiled, thousand-headed Shesh Nag Issued by Kerr Taruck & Co., Calcutta & F.Steiner & Co., Manchester Chromolithograph on paper, stuck onto gold sheet with cardboard base 9.9 x 7.9 in (25.1 x 20.1 cm) INR 5,000 – 6,250 USD 100 – 150 197 Lakshmi Textile Label This textile label depicts Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of Wealth, sitting on a large lotus ower and holding lotus stalks in her hands Issued by Kerr Taruck & Co., Calcutta & F.Steiner & Co., Manchester Chromolithograph on paper, stuck onto gold sheet with cardboard base 9.9 x 7.9 in (25.1 x 20.1 cm) INR 5,000 – 6,250 USD 100 – 150 198 Saraswati Textile Label This textile label depicts Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of Learning, holding her characteristic Veena Issued by Kerr Taruck & Co., Calcutta & F.Steiner & Co., Manchester Chromolithograph on paper, stuck onto gold sheet with cardboard base 9.9 x 7.9 in (25.1 x 20.1 cm) INR 5,000 – 6,250 USD 100 – 150 Popular deities have proved to be the preferred sponsors for all manner of goods in the Indian bazaar. In the late 19 th century, foreign manufacturers of textiles routinely ‘branded their products with pictorial trademarks and it was understood that consumers relied on these when making their selections in local bazaars’. Christopher Pinney, Photos of the Gods – The Printed Image & Political Struggle in India, Oxford University Press, 2004.