It will also have photographs, maps, and descriptions of the many terracotta monuments that I have visited over the last 20 years at the 150+ sites across West Bengal and Bangladesh.

I will post more updates, photos, and excerpts from the book in the coming months.

@willdalrymple.bsky.social

Thrilled to announce that I've signed a contract with @harpercollins.bsky.social for my book "Tapestries in Brick: The Terracotta Architecture of Bengal".

The book will delve into the many fascinating aspects of the history and architecture of Bengal's 15th to 19th century brick monuments.

Sri Sri Ram Raja
Hand-painted lithograph, c 1890
Chore Bagan Art Studio, Kolkata

#RamNavami

April is the time for new lambs and hope.
#MedievalCalendar
Morgan Library MS M.399; Da Costa hours, illuminated by Simon Bening; ca. 1515 CE; Belgium; f.5v

Gift of Stanley Herzman, in memory of Adele Herzman, 1991

Box with Figures in Landscape https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42542

Vishnu Anantasayan
Gouache and gold on paper
19th c, Pahari, Guler/Garhwal
Von Zengen Kunstauktionen

Vishnu lies on the seven-headed Ananta floating on the cosmic ocean. From his navel rises a lotus on which sits Brahma holding the vedas.

@iqtibaas88.bsky.social
@14catherine.bsky.social

Rest in peace, Joanna Sombre:

This beautiful marble monument marks the tomb of Begum Samru. She sits majestically, gazing towards the Virgin Mary inside the Church that she built. In her hand she holds the deed granted by the Mughal ruler Shah Alam II. Her portrait hangs nearby.

Dancing Krishna
Bronze, Chola period, 13th-14th Century
Collection of Nanik and Suneeta Vaswani, Houston
Crow Museum of Asian Art
@utdallas.bsky.social
@willdalrymple.bsky.social

Laurak leaves the temple; Biraspata informs Chanda.
From a Laur-Chanda manuscript
Maulana Daud of Dalmau
Sultanate, Malwa, c 1570
John Rylands Library, Manchester

All folios from this splendid manuscript are available online.

@uomlibrary.bsky.social
@willdalrymple.bsky.social