Saraswati and Lakshmi (Pair) 06

This is a pair of rare, early edition Ravi Varma oleographs of the goddesses "Saraswati and Lakshmi” from 1910s/20s. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, fortune, love, beauty, joy and prosperity. Gajalakshmi means Lakshmi with elephants (gaja); the elephant can be seen on the right with its trunk raised to garland Lakshmi. This aspect of Lakshmi is representative of prosperity, good luck, and abundance. Lakshmi typically stands on a lotus pedestal, as depicted here, and is shown with four arms. In each of her upper arms, she carries a lotus, and the lower hands are shown in abhya (without fear) and varadamudra (dispensing boons). Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is typically shown holding in her hands a pustaka (book or script), a mala (rosary, garland) and a musical instrument (veena). Her vahana (vehicle), a peacock, is shown to the left of the image.
The size of the Saraswati oleograph is 31.5 x 24 inches (with frame), and the size of Lakshmi is 32 x 24 inches (with frame). The signature on the Saraswati is on the bottom right, while in the Lakshmi, it is slightly faded, at the bottom left.