Important Notice

Published by The Ravi Varma Press, Malavli–Lonavla
Registered No. 4
Print line (below image): SHAKUNTALA WRITING LOVE LETTER | THE RAVI-VARMA PRESS PICTURE DEPOT. | BOMBAY.

LOVE, LETTER, LEGEND: EARLY JUMBO EDITION OF RAVI VARMA PRESS’S SHAKUNTALA WRITING LOVE LETTER (REG. NO. 4)

This richly printed chromolithograph is a rare early edition from the legendary Ravi Varma Press, established in 1894 to make the art... Published by The Ravi Varma Press, Malavli–Lonavla
Registered No. 4
Print line (below image): SHAKUNTALA WRITING LOVE LETTER | THE RAVI-VARMA PRESS PICTURE DEPOT. | BOMBAY.

LOVE, LETTER, LEGEND: EARLY JUMBO EDITION OF RAVI VARMA PRESS’S SHAKUNTALA WRITING LOVE LETTER (REG. NO. 4)

This richly printed chromolithograph is a rare early edition from the legendary Ravi Varma Press, established in 1894 to make the art of Raja Ravi Varma accessible to the Indian public through mass reproduction. The work depicts a poignant episode from Abhijnanashakuntalam, the classical Sanskrit play by Kalidasa. In this scene, Shakuntala reclines pensively in a forest glade, flanked by her companions, as she writes a love letter to King Dushyanta—a moment both private and poetic, rendered with exceptional grace and narrative sensitivity.

Stylistically, the print embodies Ravi Varma’s hallmark synthesis of European naturalism and Indian subject matter. The three women are elegantly rendered in classical drapery, their languid postures set against a verdant backdrop, symbolising inner longing and poetic solitude. The lush foliage, tender gestures, and idealised beauty of the figures reflect the artist’s ambition to elevate Indian mythological themes within the academic realism of the period.

What makes this particular print exceptional is its jumbo size, rarely issued by the press and typically reserved for ceremonial or institutional display. This composition, along with its low registration number, is an early and rare example of Ravi Varma's most enduring themes. This is the Registered No. 4, inscribed at the lower left margin—placing it among the earliest documented lithographic impressions issued by the Ravi Varma Press. Early registration numbers such as this are exceedingly scarce, representing the initial production cycle when lithographic stones were at their sharpest and least worn. The presence of the Bombay Picture Depot imprint further associates this print with the press’s formative phase, before relocation and broader dissemination altered both format and finish.

Early Ravi Varma prints in such a preserved state are exceedingly desirable, especially those that are part of the mythic core of his oeuvre. Shakuntala Writing Love Letter stands out as a landmark in Indian visual culture, a motif that transcended its time and became an icon of feminine yearning, aesthetic elegance, and nationalist nostalgia.

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