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Works · AB/2026/0077

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., set in a marble niche

Ravi Varma Press

The butter thieves, two children among the pots

Lithographic stone

Two children, each with a halo and a jewelled crown, are caught in the act in a dark storeroom. One stands on a block, reaching up into a pot slung from the rafters, while the other bends and tips a large jar, spilling its contents on the floor among broken boards and a cracked pot. At the right, three women in dark saris watch from a lit doorway. The picture is built in deep blacks, with the two figures glowing in the dark. The surface is worn and marked along the edges. The Ravi Varma Press was founded in 1894; the date of this stone has not yet been established.

Price · private enquiry₹45,00,000

The price is the house's asking price, given in full, with no buyer's premium. To acquire this stone, speak to Mr. Shyam Babu Naidu, Director. An object of this age falls under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972, so the house sets out the registration and transfer steps in writing, together with the written record of the stone: its age, its source, and what is not yet known.

The written record

Collection steward, Client AdvisoryMr. Arnav AgarwalThe Ravi Varma Press stones
Director, buying and private salesMr. Shyam Babu Naidu+91 70212 36700

Call Mr. Shyam Babu Naidu, Director · +91 70212 36700

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Makhan Chor, the butter thief of Gokul

AB / MYTH

Om Shri Ganeshaya Namah · Om Namah Shivaya · Jai Shri Krishna

Shri Krishna Ji Shri Balarama Ji Mata Yashoda

Two haloed children in jewelled crowns, Shri Krishna and his brother Balarama, have crept into a dark storeroom to steal butter while the women of Gokul watch from the doorway. This is Makhan Chor, the most beloved of all stories of the Lord, which Mata Yashoda forgives with a laugh. It is remembered every Janmashtami as divine play (leela): the Almighty, in the form of a mischievous child, stealing the hearts of all. Jai Shri Krishna.

The gods and stories in the stones · Raja Ravi Varma and his press · All the stones

Fact sheet

AB / 0077

ReferenceAB/2026/0077
ObjectLithographic printing stone
TraditionRavi Varma Press, the Bombay press founded in 1894 by the painter Raja Ravi Varma
SubjectTwo 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
MediumLithographic stone
Condition as photographedThe surface is worn and marked along the edges.
Marks and signatureThe surface is worn and marked along the edges.
Date of this stoneNot yet established. The press dates from 1894; the house does not print a date it cannot evidence
DimensionsTo be measured and given on the written record
ProvenanceSet out in the written record, with what is known and what is not
Photographs and film6 photographs and a breakdown film
Asking priceINR 45,00,000, the whole price, no buyer's premium
Price contextSet by the house. The highest price recorded for any Raja Ravi Varma work is Rs 167.20 crore, for his painting Yashoda and Krishna (Saffronart, 1 April 2026); a painting is a different class of object from a printing stone
LawObjects of 100 years or more fall under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972; registration and transfer steps are set out in writing
Record kept byMr. Arnav Agarwal, Partner, Client Advisory
EnquiriesMr. Shyam Babu Naidu, Director, buying and private sales, +91 70212 36700

The photo shoot

AB/2026/0077

The whole work, three close details cut from the photograph without alteration, and the work on a wall. Then the film that walks through all of it.

Close detail I of The butter thieves, two children among the pots
Detail I
Close detail II of The butter thieves, two children among the pots
Detail II
Close detail III of The butter thieves, two children among the pots
Detail III
The butter thieves, two children among the pots shown on a gallery wall at illustrative scale
On a wall. Illustrative scale: the true size is given on the record once measured.

On record

AB/2026/0077

Reference
AB/2026/0077
Artist
Ravi Varma Press
Title
The butter thieves, two children among the pots
Tradition
Lithographic printing in the Ravi Varma Press tradition
Medium
Lithographic stone
Being recorded
Year, dimensions, provenance, condition: sent in writing, with photographs, when you request the full record.
Palette
brown, grey, white

Nothing on this record is guessed. Request the full record and it arrives in writing, with photographs, before any invoice.

Enquire about this work

AB/2026/0077

Ask for the condition report, the ownership history, more photographs or a viewing. You are answered the same day by a named person.

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Read by a person and answered the same day. How your details are used

Turn through the house

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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