The History of the F.A.L. Press Through a Saraswati Print

      I found a beautiful antique lithograph print of Saraswati from the F.A.L Press. Collectors of lithographs, oleographs, and posters would know the importance of the prints from  F.A.L. Press, Bombay. So I wanted to share this knowledge with everyone. It’s a beautiful thing when we know the history of the prints we dearly hold… it helps us understand their real value.

Did you know Ravi Varma first had a press within Bombay city, even before the Ghatkopar press?

This lithograph featured here is a late 1800s print of Goddess Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma, one of India’s most celebrated artists, known for bringing mythological subjects from the Mahabharata and Ramayana into beautiful visual form.

This print is particularly significant as it belongs to the early phase of the Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press (FAL Press), Bombay, established in 1894. In the mid-1800s, lithography gained popularity worldwide for its ease and versatility compared to earlier techniques like engraving and etching. Initially, in the late 1800s, Raja Ravi Varma and other Indian artists sent their paintings to Germany for printing because of its print quality.

History of Ravi Varma’s first FAL press:

       It is believed that the motivation for the lithographic press was first provided by former Diwan of Travancore, T. Madhava Rao, who urged Ravi Varma to send some of his works to Europe so that they could be made into oleographs for local distribution.

In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago from May 1 to October 31, 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492. 

(Chicago World's Columbian Exposition and The Republicstatue and administration building in 1893.)

India was represented at the Chicago World’s Fair in different ways… Swami Vivekananda attended in person and delivered his now well-known speech, while Raja Ravi Varma was represented through his paintings. Ravi Varma was honoured with an invitation. As per the book Raja Ravi Varma: The Colonial Painter by Rupika Chawla, Ravi Varma himself could not travel to Chicago due to the social restrictions of the time, which discouraged aristocratic Kshatriyas from travelling abroad.

(On 11 September 1893, Swami Vivekananda, delivered his first speech in Chicago.)

       In many parts of India then, certain orthodox beliefs, particularly among sections of the Brahmin community, discouraged aristocratic Kshatriyas from crossing the seas. It was believed that such exposure might challenge existing social structures and traditional dependencies. So Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III loaned ten paintings to the Chicago expo. As a result, although Ravi Varma did not attend in person, his work still travelled internationally and gained international recognition.

(The Paintings displayed at international Colombian exposition at Chicago in 1894.) Click here to read more about Ravi Varma's other paintings at Chicago Expo.

So after the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, the idea of an Indian lithographic press came into reality with the encouragement of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. Raja Ravi Varma set up the Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press (F.A.L. Press) in Girgaum, Bombay (now Girgaon, Mumbai) in 1894.

The significance of this Saraswati lithograph print from FAL press:

         Under the technical guidance of the German lithographer Fritz Schleicher, the Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press in Girgaum, Bombay began operating on a more organised and ambitious scale. With improved machinery and expertise, the press soon gained recognition for producing high-quality oleographs that closely translated the richness of Ravi Varma’s original paintings.

(Printing workshop with a lithographer and a plate printer)

(Sharpner of Litho stones.)

        The first chromolithograph printed at the new press was The Birth of Shakuntala (actually spelled “Sakoontala”), released in July 1894. A couple of months later, in September 1894, prints of the goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati were released. These prints were truly special for their time. In those days, access to temples and religious spaces was limited and not open to everyone. It was only much later, in the 1930s, that temple entry began to open up more widely, especially after the Temple Entry Proclamation of Travancore in 1936.

(The Birth of Shakuntala from FAL press. (Back then it was named “Sakoontala”) Click here to know more about this print from Purathanam collection

(Ravi Varma's Lakshmi Printed in one of his Presses at Karla Lonavla) Click here to know more about this print from Purathanam collection

(Ravi Varma's Saraswati Printed in his first FAL Press at Girgaum, Bombay) Click here to know more about this print from Purathanam collection

What these prints did was quietly powerful, they brought the divine into people’s homes. For the first time, people from different backgrounds and communities could have the same image of Lakshmi and Saraswati in their own space. In that way, these prints made religious imagery more accessible to everyone. This also led to social pressure on the Ravi Varma brothers.

This rare-sized Saraswati print featured here was made at the FAL Press between 1894–96, which was Ravi Varma’s first press.

      Ravi Varma’s F.A.L. Press prints are highly sought after among collectors today. Over time, the sizes of the prints became more standardised, reflecting a shift toward more organised production.

Following the outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1896, the F.A.L. press was moved from Girgaum to the outskirts of Bombay, Ghatkopar. As conditions worsened, it was relocated again in 1898 to Malavli, near Lonavala. It was here, under the continued technical supervision of the German lithographer Fritz Schleicher, that the press evolved into a more advanced industrial setup, capable of producing large volumes of prints efficiently, often cited as reaching up to 800 impressions an hour.

After a fire accident, the Malavli press was shifted to Karla near Lonavala in 1899, and eventually, in 1903, it was sold to Schleicher.

So what I’m trying to say is that this print is one of the older pieces still available today in the lithograph and oleograph market. At a time when it’s becoming harder to find original oleographs and lithographs, due to their growing demand, finding a piece like this still out there feels truly special.

A single print holds so much history within it. That’s why I believe they are not just prints, they are stories, quietly waiting for someone to notice and listen.

Click here to checkout the lithograph print of Saraswati from Ravi Varma  F.A.L. Press, Bombay.

Sources:

• Raja Ravi Varma: Portrait of an Artist – The Diary of C. Raja Raja Varma
• Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India — Rupika Chawla