The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Sugriva

c. 1720

Southern India, Andhra Pradhesh

Gum tempera, ink, and hand-colored silver paper appliqué on paper
Overall: 35.5 x 23.5 cm (14 x 9 1/4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Ward 1975.73
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Instead of gold, artists applied strips of paper, colored with a mixture of silver paint and an organic yellow pigment called gamboge.

Description

The seated monkey king Sugriva presents the “fear not” gesture with his right hand. He served as Rama’s faithful ally during the war against Ravana. This work appears to have been made for French Jesuit missionaries by South Indian temple muralists. During the 1700s, missionaries commissioned sets of paintings from which they learned about the gods and literary figures popular among the people of the region.
  • (R. E. Lewis, Inc., San Francisco, CA)
    ?–1975
    William E. Ward [1922–2004] and Ellen Svec Ward [1921–1989], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1975–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1975.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 2 (1976): 31–71. Mentioned: p. 71, no. 184 www.jstor.org
    Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Oriental Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 102, p. 248
  • Imagining Rama’s Journey. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-September 17, 2023).
    Year in Review: 1975. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 3-March 7, 1976).
  • {{cite web|title=Sugriva|url=false|author=|year=c. 1720|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1975.73