Original Antique Hindu Mythology, Churning of the Ocean, Ferrario, 1815

This is an original hand colored copper engraving, dated 1815, from Giulio Ferrario's Le Costume Ancien et Moderne (ancient and modern costume), showing the Hindu myth of the churning of the ocean. The plate has no engraved title or caption.

A dark skinned, four armed figure in a yellow mantle and crimson skirt sits on a lotus at the head of a tall green column, holding a ewer, a red scepter, a ring and a flower. The column stands on the back of a great tortoise lying in a pool, and a serpent is wound around it as a rope. Two groups haul on the serpent from either side. At the left are a figure with a long eared animal head and a figure with stag's antlers and animal legs; at the right are two crowned figures, one of them bearded, and a bald, bearded figure with a horned ornament, garlanded with beads. A bearded figure with a golden halo stands waist deep in the water in front, holding a bundle of rods and reaching toward the tortoise's shell. Spectators in broad hats line the top of the wall behind, with tiled roofs and a tall gabled building beyond.

The plate number "80." is engraved at the upper right above the border, and the engraver signed below the border at the lower left: "G. Zancon inci". A small round blind stamp is pressed at the lower right corner of the plate mark, and an oval blind stamp is pressed at the left edge of the plate.

The plate comes from Le Costume Ancien et Moderne by Giulio Ferrario (1767 to 1847), a Milanese scholar and publisher. The work was a multi-volume illustrated survey of the customs of the peoples of the world, issued in parts in Italian and in French. The part wrapper issued with these plates closes with the imprint "MILAN, DE L'IMPRIMERIE DE L'EDITEUR, MDCCCXV" (Milan, from the publisher's press, 1815). In Hindu mythology the gods and the demons churned the ocean of milk, using Mount Mandara as the churning staff and the serpent Vasuki as the rope. Vishnu, in his form as the tortoise Kurma, carried the mountain on his back.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and bottom right corners. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.