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Jailer Receiving the Mahant of Tarakeshwar in Prison
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward
Museum

Jailer Receiving the Mahant of Tarakeshwar in Prison

c. 1890

Market Intelligence

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Public evidence
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Provenance

Public
?–2003

William E. Ward [1922–2004], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art

2003–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Source provenance text

William E. Ward [1922–2004], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

The Cleveland Museum of Artconfidence 100%

Exhibitions

Public
Source exhibition text

Indian Kalighat Paintings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 1-September 18, 2011). Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2017-April 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2017-April 16, 2018).

The Cleveland Museum of Artconfidence 100%

Sourced Overview Evidence

The Tarakeshwar murder case of 1873 was a public scandal in Calcutta (now Kolkata). It concerned an affair between Elokeshi, a young wife, and the chief priest of the Shiva temple at Tarakeshwar. Having learned about the affair, her jealous husband cut Elokeshi’s throat with a fish knife on May 27, 1873. In the subsequent trial, the husband, Banerji, was sentenced to life imprisonment and the priest was fined and imprisoned for three years. Several Bengali plays and Kalighat images were inspired by this affair and depicted events that did not actually occur but were imagined by the artist. Here the adulterer, the Mahant (head priest), is depicted roped to an Indian jailer and presented to an English (or Anglo-Indian) warden. The warden sits in a black chair, wearing an English top hat and holding in his right hand the Mahant’s warrant of commitment for adultery. Both the warden and jailer wear British-styled buckled shoes.

The Cleveland Museum of Artconfidence 100%

Evidence state

0 observed sales · 0 comparable sales · 2 structured provenance events · 2 structured exhibitions.

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