Dakshinakali

Catering to the aesthetics and demands of urban Indian markets, Europe, particularly Germany, began producing porcelain figures of Hindu deities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Presented here are different variations of Kali iconographies that proliferated within the subcontinent. Often, they were purchased for display in curiosity cabinets housed within the living rooms of wealthy Bengali families—a concept borrowed from European interiors. Among the figurines, Kali’s different versions are presented with her dark skin, open third eye and protruding tongue. The palms of Kali’s hands, like her tongue, are smeared in ruddy vermillion.