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Ravi Varma Press

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Ravi Varma Press, shiva's family on the mountain: a bearded shiva sits with a trident beside his consort, a small ganesha on his lap, with a lion and the bull nandi at their feet and four attendants behind, against snow peaks.Ravi Varma Press, the crowned woman, drawn in fine stipple: a woman in a tall, jewelled crown looks straight out, her ears and neck hung with pearls and medallions, one hand raised at the left and another holding a small ornament below.Ravi Varma Press, kartikeya on a spread of peacock feathers: a many-faced warrior god stands on a peacock whose tail opens behind him like a vast fan, with a cobra coiled below and still water at the base.Ravi Varma Press, a tinted stone: the herdsman, the cow and the water: this stone carries colour, in turquoise, rose and ochre.Ravi Varma Press, a night scene beneath the trees: in deep tonal black, a group of figures gathers under a tree, some seated, some standing in pale cloth.Ravi Varma Press, dattatreya with his cows and dogs: a three-headed, six-armed figure stands on a rocky seat, ringed by cows and dogs under a spreading tree, the arms holding the signs of the tradition.Ravi Varma Press, a couple in an interior: a man in a crown-like turban and a woman lean into one another in a room with a carved balustrade and bed behind them.Ravi Varma Press, krishna playing the flute on the bank: a young, crowned boy sits on a dark rock, playing the flute, with cattle, hills and a wide river behind him.Ravi Varma Press, shiva and parvati, close together: a man with a serpent at his throat and a woman in a draped sari lean towards each other, framed tightly by the edge of the stone.Ravi Varma Press, a woman by a water jug, lost in thought: a woman in a pale sari stands before a dark stone wall, her eyes lifted, with a jug and tray on a ledge beside her.Ravi Varma Press, a golden stone: a woman gazing at the sky: on a stone stained to a honey gold, a woman reclines by a lake at sunset with a companion behind her, her arm raised towards the sky.Ravi Varma Press, hanuman on the mountain path: a powerful figure stands in a wide stance on a rocky path, hands to his chest, a mace at his side, against mountains and sky.Ravi Varma Press, the eagle and the warrior: a huge eagle strikes at an armed, bearded figure in mid-stride, one wing sweeping across the lower half of the picture.Ravi Varma Press, a woman before the seated sage: in a temple room with steps and carved columns, a seated holy man receives visitors; a woman stands on the right in profile.Ravi Varma Press, a royal court beneath a parasol: a king's court gathers on palace steps beneath a great parasol, with warriors, attendants and a woman held by a companion in the foreground.Ravi Varma Press, a king and queen entering the hall: a crowned man and a woman in a long sari move forward together through a pillared hall, with soldiers and attendants behind them and a drawn curtain at the back.Ravi Varma Press, ganesha enthroned beneath an umbrella: ganesha sits on a decorated throne under a tall umbrella, with attendants on both sides holding fans and offerings.Ravi Varma Press, two women and a cow: a framed colour work: a framed colour picture of two women leaning in together beside a pale cow and a brass pot, in warm golds, reds and greens, set in a gilded frame with a black liner.Ravi Varma Press, lakshmi and Maa Saraswati Ji by the lotus pond: lakshmi stands on an open lotus with a lotus in each of two raised hands, between two white elephants that lift their trunks and pour water over her, while Maa Saraswati Ji sits at the right with a veena and a string of beads and a peacock turns its tail towards the water at the lower left.Ravi Varma Press, the butter thieves, two children among the pots: two children with haloes and jewelled crowns raid a store of clay pots in a dark room, one reaching up to a hanging pot and the other tipping a jar, while three women watch from a doorway at the right.

The Ravi Varma Press was the printing works founded by the painter Raja Ravi Varma. In 1894 he started India's first oleograph and chromolithographic press in Bombay, first at Girgaum and then at Ghatkopar, and in 1899 moved it to Malavli near Lonavala. He worked with the German printer Fritz Schleicher, and in 1901 transferred the press to him.

Over the following decades the press printed oleographs of gods and goddesses and of scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata in very large numbers, putting images from Ravi Varma's paintings into ordinary homes. The pieces gathered here are lithographic printing stones and related items in that tradition, shown for study. Each stone's date, source and chain of title are recorded by the house in writing, and none is offered for sale.

With the house

AB / WORKS

Ravi Varma Press, a tinted stone: the herdsman, the cow and the water: this stone carries colour, in turquoise, rose and ochre.

Ravi Varma Press

A tinted stone: the herdsman, the cow and the water

Lithographic stone

Price · private enquiry₹60,00,000

View the work

AB/2026/0034

Questions we are asked

AB / FAQ

Who is Ravi Varma Press?

The Ravi Varma Press was the printing works founded by the painter Raja Ravi Varma. In 1894 he started India's first oleograph and chromolithographic press in Bombay, first at Girgaum and then at Ghatkopar, and in 1899 moved it to Malavli near Lonavala. He worked with the German printer Fritz Schleicher, and in 1901 transferred the press to him. Over the following decades the press printed oleographs of gods and goddesses and of scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata in very large numbers, putting images from Ravi Varma's paintings into ordinary homes. The pieces gathered here are lithographic printing stones and related items in that tradition, shown for study. Each stone's date, source and chain of title are recorded by the house in writing, and none is offered for sale.

Does Arts Bespoke have works by Ravi Varma Press?

Yes. The house currently offers 20 works by Ravi Varma Press, priced from INR 35,00,000. Each is listed with its medium, dimensions, history and price.

How do I buy a work by Ravi Varma Press?

Write to Client Advisory at clientadvisory@artsbespoke.com or use Get in touch. The price shown is the whole price, with no buyer's premium and no deposit to enquire.

Enquiries

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Looking for a particular period or subject by Ravi Varma Press? Tell the house what you are after.

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Speak to the house

Buying and private salesMr. Shyam Babu Naidu+91 70212 36700WhatsApp
Exhibitions and viewingsMr. Yashwant Naidu+91 98674 36486WhatsApp
Artists and curationMr. Prakash Bal Joshi+91 98690 14555WhatsApp
The FounderMs. Sonu Agarwal+91 75062 45556WhatsApp
The Chairman's officeMr. Ashwin Agarwal+91 93230 05554WhatsApp
Client AdvisoryMr. Arnav AgarwalGet in touchWhatsApp

Ravi Varma Press, in film

AB / FILM

Works from the house

AB / WORKS

Prakash Bal Joshi, Cobalt currents, a gold seam, 2024: a landscape-format abstract in cobalt, ultramarine and pale blue, with diagonal sweeps of the brush and two seams of gold running from lower left to upper right.

Abstract

Cobalt currents, a gold seam

Prakash Bal Joshi. A canvas of moving blue: broad diagonal strokes in cobalt, ultramarine and pale sky-blue, scraped and dragged so the surface looks like water under wind, or silk folded o.

Chandra Morkonda, Four elephants and the green tree: a landscape-format painting of a great green tree with a gold trunk, four outlined elephants on a golden ground, a pink lotus and a second tree in pink and orange.

Landscape, nature & trees

Four elephants and the green tree

Chandra Morkonda. A great tree with rounded green crowns, each leaf veined in orange and gold, stands on a golden trunk at the left, over a ground of patterned triangles in orange and saff.

Two stylised bulls face each other on a brown ground, their bodies filled with tiny scenes of Hindu deities, with gold and orange bands on horns, necks and legs.

Devotional & narrative

Two bulls carrying the gods

Vivek Kumavat. Two stylised bulls meet face to face on a warm brown ground, set against a dark block pattern.

Prakash Bal Joshi, Crimson rain on a lit field, 2015: a tall abstract in crimson, rose and pale pink, with long vertical drips running down over a loose grid of lighter panels.

Abstract

Crimson rain on a lit field

Prakash Bal Joshi. A tall canvas worked almost entirely in one colour, from deep crimson to the palest rose, with the white ground left to show through in a few lit panels near the top.

All works Abstract Figures Devotional Landscape Ravi Varma Press stones