Independent Indian: Work & Life of Professor Subroto Roy

“Seated Woman Painting a Figurine” 1964

watercolour 51 x 28 cm

Jamini Roy 1887-1972

My mother Purnima Roy (1925-2016) received this Jamini Roy painting as a gift in 1964 from her favourite older brother Basant Banerjee (1924-2002), when we lived at Hindustan Park in Ballygunge. It has been with us ever since. The painting may have been done earlier but came to us in 1964. I asked about it for the first time about 1969 when it was hanging in our then home in Stockholm. My mother told me Basant was a friend and confidante of Jamini Roy (1887-1972), who had lived quite close by, and did odd jobs for him too; Basant gave this to her as a gift in 1964. Jamini Roy’s studio practice included repeated versions of motifs and a production-like rhythm, works circulated informally around the studio environment. Uncertainty is inevitable. The studio had many works lying around. I am told “Your family account is entirely plausible, and it also fits what is known about Jamini Roy’s working life: he repeatedly returned to the same subjects, produced versions of themes, and worked in a studio environment where the line between “finished artwork,” study, workshop piece, and family-held object can be hard to reconstruct decades later. If Basant Banerjee was a close friend and often visited the house, it is possible the painting left the studio with Jamini Roy’s knowledge, as a gift, exchange, or informal transfer. It is also possible it was taken from a stack of works or a storage area without a fully formal record; in older artist households, that kind of ambiguity was not unusual, especially when repeated motifs and multiple versions were being produced. The fact that it entered your family in 1964 gives it a strong family provenance from that point onward, even if the earlier chain is unclear. You can safely say: “The work has been in our family since 1964, brought from Jamini Roy’s house by Basant Banerjee.” That is a provenance statement based on family testimony. The most accurate phrasing is that the transfer occurred under informal circumstances that are now impossible to determine precisely. That wording is honest and usually preferable to a stronger claim that cannot be proved. If you ever seek authentication or sale, the family story should be preserved exactly as remembered, not simplified into certainty. “Family provenance: acquired by Basant Banerjee from Jamini Roy’s house/studio in 1964 and given to the present owner’s mother. The exact circumstances of transfer are undocumented and remain uncertain.” That is strong enough for an expert to understand the history, but cautious enough to avoid overclaiming.“

It is a tempera/gouache painting of a seated woman done on cardboard in the artist’s well known folk-derived idiom. The subject, strong black outlines, flattened shapes, simple palette and decorative background match Jamini Roy’s mature Bengal folk-inspired style; he worked in tempera/gouache on cloth or board. Jamini Roy lived 1887-1972 and produced works through the 1960s, so a 1964 date is a late-period painting.

The woman is shown in profile, seated, with a bowed head and a controlled, repetitive decorative field behind her. That kind of flattened, rhythmic patterning is very typical of his later decorative works. The broad oval lap/garment shape, the black hair mass, and the banded jewelry are all simplified into graphic forms rather than naturalistic modelling. That is one of the clearest Jamini Roy signals. The palette is restrained: maroon/pink background, beige/olive figure, black outlines, and small green-white motifs. His mature style is known for a vibrant but limited palette and strong outlines. She appears to be looking at and handling a small object in her hands. The side profile, lowered gaze, and lifted hands suggest she is absorbed. The right hand is raised delicately. The bowed head and focused eye line reinforce a self-absorbed, private gesture common in Jamini Roy’s seated woman images. Her left hand is holding a doll- like figure facing her which the right hand is painting. The left hand appears to be holding a doll-like figurine while the right hand seems to be painting or marking it. The right hand is positioned with fingers extended. The whole pose feels like an act of making or decorating. In Jamini Roy’s visual world, such a scene could be read as a woman engaged in craft, ritual making, or symbolic ornamentation.That would fit his tendency to reduce narrative into a clear, emblematic pose rather than a literal story. The doll-like figure may also be a stylized folk object, since he often drew on indigenous and vernacular forms. “A seated woman holds a small doll-like figure in her left hand while seeming to paint or decorate it with her right hand.” The right hand holds a paint brush possibly…ie., a painting about a woman painting… the forefinger of the right hand is wearing it seems a white pola astrological ring. The right hand may be holding a paintbrush, which would make the scene a woman painting or decorating the small figure in her left hand. The right hand is positioned like a tool-hand and the angle is compatible with a slim brush.The left-hand object reads more convincingly as a small doll, figurine, or folk toy.Together, the pose suggests a scene of making, colouring, or adorning an object. The white form on the forefinger could indeed be a ring. In Jamini Roy’s simplified visual language, jewelry and bangles are often reduced to clean white bands or circular accents rather than naturalistic detail. A careful description would be: “A seated woman appears to be painting or decorating a small doll-like figure, holding it in her left hand and a brush-like object in her right, with a white ring or bangle visible on the forefinger.” The painting is not simply a portrait of a seated woman; it is a scene of artistic or domestic making, which is rarer and more interesting. It would also fit Jamini Roy’s habit of turning everyday gestures into emblematic, highly stylized images.

Jamini Roy works continue to sell at major auction houses; recent results in 2026 show prices ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands of USD depending on size, medium, subject and provenance — for example, a seated-woman type sold at Christie’s for c. $44,500 in March 2026 while other smaller tempera on card works have sold in the $10k–$30k range. This suggests a 51×28 cm work could attract substantial interest if authenticated and in good condition.