Indian Art

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The first painting I remember seeing from Subhash Kapoors collection was the Kangra Virat Swaroop (catalogue no. 44). This was in 1995, and although at that time I had no knowledge of Indian paintings or Indian culture, the impact this image had on me was both powerful and true. Despite my ignorance, I understood that this painting expressed successfully the concept of the Infinitethat whatever it was that was shown in this intimate format was an attempt to reveal the smallness of humanity in relation to the universe. The experience overcame me, and I was immediately and irrevocably seduced by Indian paintings. It has been a singular goal of mine, in these past fourteen years, to have an opportunity to present formally an exhibition of selected paintings from the Subhash Kapoor Collection. Therefore, it is our pleasure to introduce Darshan: Paintings from the Collection of Subhash Kapoor. The name for this exhibition is a Sanskrit term meaning sight, in relation principally to glimpsing the divine. My introduction to Indian paintings had seemed to me like a profound experience, and I have looked at these paintings with darshan, a sense of reverence and devotion, ever since. Subhash Kapoor has had the fortune and privilege of having been around paintings his entire life. He began handling paintings as a small child at the urging of his late father, Shri Parshotam Ram Kapoor. Many of the eminent personages in Indian art would visit with his father, and Subhash had the opportunity to listen to their conversations. These great minds included Shri Rai Krishna Das-ji, Padam Shri Ram Gopal Vijayvargia, Shri Chuni Lal Naulakha, Shri Jagdish Mittal, Shri Moti Chandra Khajanchi, Shri Karl Khandalavala, Dr. M.S. Randhawa, Dr. John Kenneth Galbraith, Dr. V.C. Ohri, Dr. Stella Kramrisch, Dr. B.N. Goswamy, and Dr. Anand Krishna. These formative experiences have played a vital role in Subhash Kapoors development as a connoisseur and collector of Indian paintings. The fifty-one paintings selected for this exhibition provide a useful survey of Indian miniatures. They begin in period sequence
with an example from the well-known Bhagavata Purana series, Baby Krishna Tied to a Mortar, dated ca. 1530 (catalogue no. 14), and extend to the late nineteenth century with The Portrait of the Vallabacharya High-Priest, Gosain-ji (catalogue no. 51). There are examples from most of the major schools in Rajasthan, the Punjab Hills and Plains, and the Mughal Empire with its outlying, regional courts. The collection also includes examples from regions lesser known for their painting traditions, such as Kutch, Orissa, and Mysore. Together, these fifty-one works represent a majority of the different styles of Indian paintings, and show how these manners of painting evolved over the course of approximately three hundred and fifty years. We would like to express our gratitude to those who have graciously provided help and guidance with this catalogue and exhibition. First and foremost, we would especially like to thank Dr. Harsha V. Dehejia for his translations of the poetry found on many of the paintings, for his lyrical essay on Krishna paintings, and for the many years of friendship and learning that we have shared. We would like to thank Jennifer Moore for her contributions to this catalogue, the writing of several of the Pahari entries, her editing of the text, her extraordinary patience, and her invaluable help in keeping this project together. We wish to thank Dr. John Seyller, Dr. Navina Haider, Dr. Madhav M. Deshpande, and Dr. Meghan Callahan, for their scholarship and helpful insights. Harish Patel did an extraordinary job designing this catalogue, and we thank him for his vision and intense passion for paintings. A thank you is due also to Subhash Kapoor for the catalogue photography, and the vigorous and fruitful discussions we had regarding the paintings. It is our hope that you enjoy this catalogue and exhibition, and we look forward to seeing you very soon.
Aaron M. Freedman
Under the Kadamba Tree

The time is the early nineteenth century, and the place is Nadaun, in the Pahari region. The whispering sound is that of the river Beas. Let us tread softly into this idyllic world of drooping creepers, sensual nayikas, luxuriant blossoms, and verdant meadows, of an ethereal Vrindavana bathed in Himalayan moonlight, and soft music of a distant flutelest we disturb the romantic rendezvous of Sansar Chand and the dancing girls of the court. This is Kangra, home of the most lyrical paintings of shringara rasa. This school was the climax of almost two centuries of Pahari painting, and here Krishna kavya was transformed by the kalam of the Kangra artists, under the patronage of enlightened rulers like Sansar Chand, into chirtra, or visual poetry. In these paintings, the love of Krishna and the gopis assumed many colors and forms, and colors spoke and lines resonated with hues of passion, and heart-throbbing moments of belonging and longing came to life. Here, peacocks and parrots, blossoms, and creepers, all shared the same space on the canvas as gopis and sakhis, for, after all, the same sap that gave them life gave life to everything in the enchanted space of the most beautiful paintings of shringara rasa. While Rajput painting in Rajasthan saw the complete evolution from early manuscript illustration to the fully evolved and refined miniature painting, it appears that Pahari painting did not go through this transformation. Driven by pushtimarg Vaishnavism, Krishna art reached new heights in the leisured and luxuriant Pahari kingdoms. Another feature of the Pahari kalam was the greater homogeneity among the output of different kingdoms, since artists from one kingdom frequently traveled to another. Pahari art was not a court art in the Rajput sense, and, more important, patronage of Pahari art was more enlightened than Rajashtani art, since it not only gave the artists total freedom in their work, but also rewarded them handsomely and elevated their social status. There was a certain joyousness and sensuality in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Kangra court, as can be seen from the accounts of Western travelers like Moorcroft. It is not surprising that the Kangra artists would incorporate this ethos in their kalam, and use it to portray the madhurya of Krishna. It has been rightly said that Kangra painting is characterized by a lyricism, a patrician elegance tempered by a simplicity and warmth of feeling, a refined earnestness and a gracefulness of form. Kangra paintings are kavyamaya, suffused with the lyricism of poetry; layamaya, full of the delicacy and softness of dance; and gitamaya, resonant with the sound of music. Emotion in Kangra paintings is almost palpable; tender feelings of Krishna and the gopis are visible, and the music in the air is almost audible in these beautiful paintings, but only to those who have the sensitivity to go beneath the surface and partake of the nuances and suggestions of Krishnas romantic moments with the gopis. The Kangra kalam is indeed a feminine art, intrinsically an art of sentiment rather than of passion. In their time, these paintings must have been celebrated in elite and cultured company, in sophisticated and elegant surroundings, with the accompaniment of song and dance, with flowing madira and smoldering hookahsnot silently watched in the sterile ambience of a museum. It has rightly been said that Kangra painting is the superb lyricism and melody of the sweet love of Krishna made visual. The landscape in the paintings, which is inspired by the bucolic and luxuriant Pahari terrain, is assimilated into the mood of the personages through a symbolism that is very transparent in its poetic suggestion. While the Kangra kalam exudes a refined sensuousness and lyrical gracedrawing its inspiration not only from its idyllic landscape, but also equally from the living presence of the Krishna of love in the courtsit is in the depiction of the graceful and elegantly sensuous shringara rasa nayika that it reaches its greatest heights of artistic
Notes on Three Paintings: finesse and mastery. The Modi Bhagavata and the Lambargaon Gita Govinda (catalogue no. 45) rank as the high-water mark of the magnificent Kangra kalam. So is the Pahari version of Sunder Shringara (catalogue no. 39). The Kangra nayika of painting has not only an elegant and sensuous charm, a luminous elegance and unsurpassed beauty, but also a refined romantic sensibility, whether she was experiencing the pain of pathos of the pleasures of love, and, in the genre of romantic figures that Indian artists have produced, she represents the most beautiful and the most exalted. There is in her not only the charm of romantic sensuality, but also the serenity of a woman in love who is also aware that her sensuality is the doorway to spirituality. The Kangra kalam is indeed a feminine art, intrinsically an art of sentiment rather than of passion. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Pahari kalam had lost much of its finesse and vitality, and the glorious era of five hundred years of miniature painting was coming to an end. It was a magnificent era, when Krishna kavya was transformed by the kalam of the artists and the patronage of enlightened rulers into chitra, or visual poetry, where the love of Krishna and the gopis assumed many colors and forms, where colors spoke, and lines resonated with the hues of passion, where heart-throbbing moments of belonging and longing came to life, where peacocks and parrots, blossoms and creepers, shared the same space on the canvas as gopis and sakhis, for, after all, the sap that gave them life gave life to everything in Vrindavana, and it was there, under the Kadamba tree, that we heard the flute of Krishna, and that flute resonated within us till we found our own real selves.
1. Radha Sits in Sadness While Krishna Dances in the Woods of Vrindavan (catalogue no. 45) The defining feature of Krishnas presence in the enchanted Vrindavana was madhurya, or mellifluous love, a love that was shared equally by gopas and gopis, cows and birds, blossoming trees and winding creepers, buzzing bees and cooing birds, the clear noonday sky and the star-studded sky of the night. Vallabhacharyas Madhurashtakam resonates the dhruva pada madhuradhipati akhilam madhuram, (the lord of madhurya is altogether sweet). Madhurya becomes an epistemic principle in Vallabhacharyas pushtimarg Vaishnavism, for, through it, shringara rasa was transformed into shringara bhakti. Equally, madhurya was esthetically evocative, and, in the hands of the Pahari artist who depicted Krishnas amorous presence in Vrindavana, it was transformed into the lyrical and sensuous depiction of the verdant and bucolic forest where Radha and the gopis were enveloped in the sweet love of Krishna. One can almost feel and hear the sweet notes of love in this painting.
2. Illustration from a Sundar Shringer Series: Krishna Prostrating Himself at the Feet of Radha (catalogue no. 39) In a couple of hundred years after the Bhagavata Purana and the Gita Govinda, the pastoral Krishna was transformed into a courtly nayaka in the hands of ritikal poets. The names of Keshavdas and Bihari stand out prominently as leaders of the prolific ritikal movement, where Krishna and Radha are not pastoral but courtly, their presence not rustic, but urban, their amorous encounters not simple, but sophisticated. The ritikal movement flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and was patronized by the royalty and the nobility. While we know many of these poets by name, many others are forgotten and remain nameless. Sunder kavi was an important part of the ritikal movement and was recognized and honored by Shah Jahan. His Sunder Shringara is considered an important document of the ritikal period. On the back of this painting, the doha inscription reads: Tears roll down the nayikass eyes on seeing the marks of the red dye on Krishnas forehead, and she is enraged. Krishna tries to assuage her feelings by falling at her feet, and the nayika relents and she lets go of her mana.
3. Radha and Krishna Meeting in the Forest (catalogue no. 47) The ethos of the ritikal produced a large number of poets who remain unknown, but who wrote with flourish of the romantic and courtly Krishna. One such poet wrote: O woman with beautiful eyes, you have stolen in a moment my two buds of the Kadamba. O gopi, do not hide them. Having said this, the delighter of Nanda pulled away her odhni, and thus he rejoiced on the banks of Kalindi. The Kangra artist, probably in the court of Sansar Chand, renders this couplet in the distinctive Kangra style.
Harsha V. Dehejia
Minerva
Ascribed to Basawan, calligraphy on verso by Muhammad Husayn Zarrin Qalam Mughal ca. 1590 Nim qalam (grisaille) drawing mounted on album page with pale green and pink margins illuminated with gold flowers, and gold, red, and blue margins with blue rule on blue-tinted paper, with gold fauna on gold floral ground. Verso with four lines of nastaliq, margined, ruled, and mounted.
Painting: Folio: 7 X 312 inches (17.8 x 8.9 cm) 1412 x 938 inches (36.8 x 23.8 cm)
A European-styled Minerva, dressed in a cloak, stands on a pedestal, holding a stringed instrument and chain. She is confronted by a half-nude baby also dressed in a cloak, his held at the shoulder by a clasp, and is surrounded by various articles, including a book and ewer. A cat sits by the pedestal, and birds and trees appear in the background. Basawan, one of the master artists at the Akbar court, was exceptionally skilled in copying and appropriating European engravings and Christian iconography. Basawan, however, demonstrated an impressive independence in copying European subjects, as he combined so many different elements that it is often hard to determine the original sources. In this case, Minerva holds an ektar, a Persian stringed instrument, rather than the traditional spear.1 An open book, which is a symbol of learning and a main attribute of Minerva, lies in front of the goddess. Although Basawan was not rigorously faithful to the iconographic and thematic conventions of European imagery, he adhered closely to the stylistic issues. The master emulated the use of the monochromatic grisaille technique, which emphasized modeling to convey depth and volume. With the use of black ink, an extremely fine brush, and light washes, Basawan invented a new technique in Mughal painting known as nim qalam. This manner of painting remained popular from the end of Akbars reign in the late sixteenth century, well into the first quarter of the seventeenth century, under the rule of Jahangir.
A note in the lower margin, intended presumably for the binder, translates, Facing the [painting] of the woman holding a baby in her arms. A later inscription on the bottom of the drawing reads Ustad Basawan, or Master Basawan. The calligraphy on the verso is signed Muhammad Husayn [Zarrin Qalam].
Basawan is known to have replaced a usual Christian attribute with an ektar in at least one other instance. A contemporary drawing by Basawan, in the collection of the Muse Guimet, Paris, shows a saint holding the stringed instrument rather than the usual palm frond. See Amina Okada, Indian Miniatures of the Mughal Court (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992), fig. 90, p. 89.
Humayun Visiting the City of Tabriz
A Leaf from the Third Akbarnama Manuscript By Basawan Mughal ca. 1595-1600 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on an eighteenth-century album page, folio 156
Painting: Folio: 1234 x 712 inches (32.6 x 19.2 cm) 1414 x 914 inches (36 x 23.5 cm)
The Mughal Emperor Humayun is welcomed officially to the city of Tabriz. In honor of the guest, the city is decorated, and special games are being held. Tabriz was famous especially for a version of hockey (chaugan-e piyadeh), which was more like polo played on foot. The Shah had banned the game previously because of riots, but reinstated it temporarily for their guests pleasure.1 Humayun, dressed in green and purple, and the distinctive turban of his own design, is shown at the palaces upper level, where he is being received by the Tabriz court. The kneeling figure is either the governor, or Mulla Qutbuddin Jalanju of Baghdad, who waited on Humayun in Tabriz and accompanied him to Mashhad, on his way back to India.2 The name of the artist, Basawan, is inscribed at the lower right. The outline is by Basawan, but the colorist is not mentioned after the name of the senior artist. It may have been annotated on the missing lower-right-hand corner. Basawan belongs to the first generation of Mughal painters, having worked on the Razmnama ca.1584. He was honored during his lifetime with the title of Ustad, or Master, and was one of the best known and most prolific of Akbars artists. S.P. Verma lists no fewer than one hundred thirty-seven of his works.3
This page is one of sixteen from an important royal manuscript that is thought to have belonged to Hamida Banu Begum, mother of the Emperor Akbar. The scholars who have worked on it have identified it as a third royal Akbarnama manuscript, in addition to those in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the British Library, London; and the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.4 Other leaves from the series are in the Polsky Collection, New York; the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London; and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Provenance:
From a private collection that has been in England since the 1940s.
2 3 4
An Akbarnama page from the same manuscript, by Banwari (Kalan), now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, depicts wolf running, another game held in honor of Humayuns viasit to Tabriz. See H. Beveridge (translator), The Akbarnama of Abu-l-Fazl, vol. 1, Calcutta, 1897, pp. 443-444. S.P. Verma, Mughal Painters and Their Work (New Delhi, 1994), pp. 83-94. See Linda York Leach, Pages from an Akbarnama in Rosemary Crill, Susan Stronge, and Andrew Topsfield (eds.), Arts of Mughal India: Studies in Honour of Robert Skelton (Ahmedabad/London, 2004), pp. 42-55.
3
Mughal ca. 1590-1600
The Emperor Jahangirs Lion Hunt
Brush and ink, with washes of opaque watercolor on buff paper, laid down between red and gold floral design, mounted on album page with pink and gold floral motif on green ground; verso with six lines of black nastaliq
Painting: Folio: 638 x 334 inches (16.2 x 9.5 cm) 14 x 934 inches (36.6 x 24.8 cm)
Jahangir, mounted high on an elephant, is poised to thrust his spear into a lion attacking one of his men. Another lion is backed into a cave, and a member of the party narrowly escapes his demise, as a comrade helps him scamper up a tree. On the left, a group tends to a captured cheetah that has been blindfolded. Others are on foot or on horseback, holding swords or rifles, engaging in the hunt. The scene is set in a dramatic, rocky landscape. In his memoirs, Jahangir mentioned several hunting incidents, as the emperor had an intense passion for the pastime. This painting is probably an illustration of one of these expeditions. The artist, Farrukh Chela, did two other versions of this scene.1 There are other versions of the exact same composition that are published.2 The inscription on the reverse contains a Persian quatrain in nastaliq eulogizing a newly crowned king on his accession who is having the khutba read in his name. The abjad dating in the last verse adds up to 1124 (1712 A.D.), the year three Mughals were crowned. The inclusion of the enemy being caught may be an indication that the ruler intended is Farrukh Siyar (1124-31/1713-19). No other ruler in the Persian-speaking world was crowned in that year.
Published:
1 2
Sothebys London, 16 June 1987, lot 126.

See Christies catalogue, 18 December 1968, lot 76. Toby Falk and Simon Digby, Indian Painting (London: Colnaghi and Co., 1978), no. 16, p. 30; A. Welch and S.C. Welch, Art of the Islamic Book: The Collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (Cornell: Cornell University Press, 1982), no. 66, pp. 201-202; one of these is also published in Toby Falk and Simon Digby, Paintings from Mughal India (London: Colnaghi and Co., 1980), no.15.
4
Mughal ca. 1600 - 1605
A Hunting Scene
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on eighteenth-century album page, margins in cream sprinkled in gold, inner borders ruled in black, white, and red; outer border ruled in black, a later eighteenth-century seal at lower left. Verso with calligraphy in twelve lines of nastaliq in black ink on a pale ground with blue borders.
Painting: Folio: 812 x 512 inches (21.7 x 13.8 cm) 1412 x 1058 inches (36.9 x 27 cm)
A young noble, dressed in red and riding a pale-blue horse, is poised to let his arrow fly at one of the three antelope that dart before him. An attendant follows closely behind him on a brown horse. Another princely figure, dressed in orange, rides his richly caparisoned horse with his falcon at the ready. The men in the foreground butcher a carcass that is part of the reward from the days hunt. In the distance, a farmer and his wife tend to their flock of goats. Although from an unidentified album, this refined painting bears similarity to contemporary pages from the Akbarnama in the collection of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, and the British Library, London. The opulent scene appears to focus on a pleasing, aesthetic impression, rather than purely bold, dynamic qualities. The artist has chosen a palette that emphasizes greens, lavenders, yellows, and oranges, in addition to the earlier traditions of mainly reds, blues, and browns.1
See Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Vol. I (London: Scorpion Cavendish, Ltd., 1995), pp. 232293.
5
Deccan, Bijapur ca. 1620
Portrait of a Prince
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on album page with outer border of gold flowers
Painting: Folio: 558 x 318 inches (14.2 x 8 cm) 1658 x 1138 inches (42.4 x 28.7 cm)
A young prince is dressed in pink and gold and with a spray of feathers adorning his turban. The royal stands against a pale green ground, holding a closed book in his raised right hand, and, with his left hand clutching his elegant gold shawl.1 The distinguishing characteristics of the early-seventeenth-century Bijapuri style are evident in this painting: the pink and pale green palette, the feathers (or sometimes leaves) ornamenting the turban, the arms set one above the other, and the long, embroidered sash. The portraits done by the Mughal artist Farrukh Beg during his period of Deccani patronage most likely influenced this style.2 A particularly close example by Farrukh Beg is currently in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, San Diego.3 An inscription appears in the top right corner that reads Qutb al-Mulk, or Pinnacle of Royalty, and indicates that the subject was thought to be a prince of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. This inscription was added, probably in the nineteenth century, when the painting was mounted in its current gold border.
Published:
Paintings from Mughal India, Colnaghis, 1979, no. 35, pp. 74-75.
A drawing in the Jagdish Mittal Collection is close in subject and composition; see Stuart Cary Welch, Indian Drawings and Painted Sketches (New York: The Asia Society, 1976), no. 30, p. 69. For a version in mirror image, see Sothebys London, 23 October 1992, lot 504. See Robert Skelton, The Mughal Artist Farroukh Beg, in Ars Orientalis, 1957, vol. II, pp. 393-411; and John Seyller, Farrukh Beg in the Deccan, Artibus Asiae, vol. 55, no.3 /4 (1995), pp. 319-341.. Illustrated in Edwin Binney 3rd, et al., Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, Vol. I: The Mughal and Deccani Schools, (Portland: Portland Art Museum, 1972), no. 122, p. 144.
6
Attributed to Payag Mughal ca. 1640-1650
Mystics Around a Campfire
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on buff paper, margins ruled in gold.
Painting: Folio: 412 x 234 inches (11.1 x 7 cm) 614 x 412 inches (15.7 x 11.1 cm)
In this night scene, three mystics gather in a semi-circle around a campfire in a lush grove of trees. The expressionistic landscape is dark and misty, and special attention has been paid to the naturalistic rendering of the portraits illuminated by the orange glow of the fire. The eldest, garbed only in a loincloth and seated on a skin, tends to the fire, while another plucks at his instrument. The third, seated on the left, watches the old man with a smile. A couple of bowls, a pot, and a fan of peacock feathers lie on the ground. The European elements that characterize this painting, especially the dextrous use of chiaroscuro and realism, are distinctive of the work of the Mughal artist Payag, who was one of the foremost, and arguably most outstanding, painters of the Shah Jahan court.1 Although exceptionally competent in the conventional manner of Mughal court painting,2 Payag is celebrated more for his later, moody, expressionistic group scenes featuring ascetics and courtiers, the genre to which this painting belongs. The works of contemporary European masters were studied closely at the Mughal court, and Payag adapted these European techniques in an intense, strongly individualistic manner. He was a master of the effects of light and reflection, and had a unique, plastic command of facial types. Payag also paid close attention to the drawing of plants and trees. All these characteristics are evident in this painting.3
1 2
Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, Vol. I (London: Scorpion Cavendish, Ltd, 1995), p 354. Shah Jahan on a Globe in the Chester Beatty Collection (see Amina Okada, Indian Miniatures of the Mughal Court (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992), no. 247, p. 208). Compare with Soldiers Listening to Music in the Chester Beatty collection. See Leach 1995, pl. 68, p. 441.
Dervish Smoking Hookah
Ascribed to Muhammed Yusef al-Husayani Iran, Isfahan Dated 1643 (1053 AH) Black ink and wash with opaque blue watercolor, mounted on album page with green grape clusters on pink ground; calligraphy on verso, inscribed Abdullah al Husayni
An old dervish sits smoking a hookah, in a sparse landscape of scraggly rocks and tattered trees. A teacup, saucer, and small plate of snacks sit by his side. The painting is finely drawn in black ink with a restrained use of wash. Certain details, such as the cuffs and lower hem of the garment, and the hookah mouthpiece, have been colored in lapis blue. The inscription to the left of the hookah provides the name Muhammed Yusef al-Husayani, and the date A.H. 1053 (1643 A.D.). An artist by the name of Muhammed Yusef is known to have worked at the court of Shah Abbas II (r. 1642-1666), under the tutelage of Rez -e a Abbasi, the master artist of the royal atelier. Rez s a students worked closely under their teacher, and copied his style until they were able to develop their own distinctive characteristics as artists. Muhammed Yusef was one of Rezas most talented disciples and is known to have modeled his style closely on that of Rez , basing, a for example, his style on that of his masters in his paintings of dervishes, one of his masters favorite subjects.1 A similar seated dervish, but without a hookah, is signed by Rez , and may have been the a inspiration for this painting by Muhammed Yusef.2 On the verso of the album page are three calligraphic panels written in Taliq script, with the signature Abdullah al-Husayani.
See Abolala Soudavar, Art of the Persian Courts: Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1992), figs. 43-44, p. 263. Soudavar, pl. 108, pg. 269.
8
Mughal ca. 1630-1635
The Temptation of St. Jerome
Opaque watercolor on paper with thin yellow border, varnished

Painting: 1338 x 10 inches (34.13 x 25.4 cm)
St. Jerome, dressed in a monks robe, kneels on the floor of a cavelike interior. His hands are clasped together in prayer, as he tries to remain focused on the small book propped before him on a ledge and the crucifix hanging on the wall that shows a beturbaned Christ wearing a loincloth. A voluptuous woman leaning into his view and putting her hand on her chest distracts his attention. Manuscripts and a bowl lie on the floor. After St. Jerome spent four years in the desert outside of Antioch, fasting, praying, and learning Hebrew, he had a long sojourn in Bethlehem. It is here that he studied scripture and completed his translation of the Bible into Latin. In this part of the saints life, he is usually shown in solitude, with his books and a crucifix or a skull, emphasizing his meditation on sacred truth. The woman depicted is actually an apparition of his own earthly desires that tempt him and distract him from his divinely inspired tasks. This image may have been taken from the saints letters, in which he mentions that, during his time in the desert, he had had visions of Roman virgins. This image of St. Jerome is based, in all likelihood, on an unidentified European engraving. As a result not only of the activities of Jesuit missionaries and visits of diplomats, but also of an increasing trade between the Mughals and the West, a regular supply of European engravings made their way to India during the Shah Jahan Period.
9
Deccan, Bijapur Mid-17th century
Saint Roch
Marbled paper drawing with ink and translucent watercolor on paper, mounted on album page with plain cream border
A European-styled pilgrim holds one hand to his breast, and, with the other, clutches a staff to which is tied a small bag of belongings. A winged putto clings to the figures right leg and holds up the pilgrims skirt. A small dog accompanies the pilgrim. The uncolored group is positioned against a marbled ground. The small painting is mounted on a cream-colored, nineteenth-century album page with a blue border and white, red, and gold rulings. The other side of the album page is an early nineteenth-century Deccani painting of a blue yogi seated in meditation on a leopardskin outside a hut in the forest. St. Roch (ca. 1295 1327), a pilgrim-saint from Montpellier, France, was born with an auspicious red cross on his breast. This detail is indicated by the figures hands being placed over his heart. The saint was afflicted by the bubonic plague, but managed to survive and cure others of the disease. The putto lifts St. Rochs skirt to reveal the dark spot of the bubo on his thigh.1 Bijapur was a center for the production of marbled drawings in the mid-seventeenth century.2 Although it had been thought that these works originated from Turkey or Persia, the costumes, the handling of the swirling skies, the high shading of the figures, and the similarly treated marbled papers found in contemporary Deccani albums point, instead, to a Bijapuri provenance. The subject of this marbled drawing was certainly copied from one of the many European engravings brought to India by visiting Jesuits. This example is one of the few known in which the background is marbled rather than the figures.3
Published:
Christies South Kensington, 30 April, 1998, lot 345.
1 2 3
Identified by Dr. Meghan Callahan, independent scholar, from an email correspondence, October 4, 2008. For a discussion of marbled drawings from the Deccan, see Mark Zebrowski, Deccani Painting, (London: Sotheby Publications, 1983), pp. 135-138. For other examples of this rare technique, see Stuart Cary Welch, A Flower from Every Meadow (New York: The Asia Society, 1973).
10
Royal Elephant and Mahout
Attributed to Bahadur Singh Uttar Pradesh, Oudh ca. 1765-1770 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on album page with outer buff border with gold-leaf splashes; inner blue border with gold floral pattern; blue, red, gold rulings, calligraphically signed on the reverse by Muhammad Musa al-Husayni.
A mahout holding a golden goad is seated on a royal elephant that walks across a field under a pale sky. The elephant is richly caparisoned with jeweled trappings and a gold and green saddlecloth decorated with flowers. The treatment of the European-style background with gray cumulus clouds against a pale, blue-green sky and trees seen at a distance is a trademark of Bahadur Singh, a chief artist at the court of Shuja-ud-Daulah of Lucknow (r. 1754-1775). Bahadur Singhs Portrait of a Mufti in a Landscape, in the collection of the British Library, London, exemplifies this style.1 Bahadur Singh worked in close collaboration with another master artist, Mihr Chand, who influenced his style greatly, and together their artistic legacies dominated Oudh painting for nearly the remainder of the eighteenth century.
Published:
Sotheby's London, December 14, 1987, lot 30.
See, J.P. Losty, Towards a New Naturalism: Portraiture in Murshidabad and Avadh, 1750-80, in After the Great Mughals: Painting in Delhi and the Regional Courts in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Barbara Schmitz, ed. (Mumbai: Marg Publication, 2002), fig. 12, p. 48.
11
Uttar Pradesh, Oudh ca. 1770
Khusraw Espies an Unrecognized Shirin Bathing
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on album page with orange-red borders with splashes of gold leaf and white and gold rulings
Painting: Folio: 834 x 6 inches (22.2 x 15.2 cm). 934 x 634 inches (24.7 x 17.2 cm)
An episode is illustrated from the medieval Persian love poem of Khusraw and Shirin. In an attempt to meet his beloved Shirin, Khusraw passes a beautiful young lady bathing at a pool, but does not realize that the maiden is, in fact, his love, because the two had only seen portraits of each other and had not yet met in person. After much travail and adventures, Khusraw and Shirin are eventually married. Mid-eighteenth-century Mughal painting enjoyed a renewed concern with naturalism. Unlike the strict orthodoxy governing art under the patronage of Aurangzeb, artists in the mid-eighteenth century were exposed to various types of European art that circulated freely in India. These artists appropriated certain European elements, such as the landscape style, and incorporated them into their paintings. Landscape, in particular, was used to create a believeable space for naturalistically rendered figures. These landscapes, and the figures that populated them, were also now presented from an eye-level perspective, which added to their sense of naturalism.1
It is thought artists operating in Oudh, such as Dip Chand, Mihr Chand, and Mir Kalan Khan, were open to these new influences and different artistic traditions before the visit of the British artist Tilly Kettle to Faizabad in 1772-73.2 A similar painting, illustrating a different episode from the story of Khusraw and Shirin, The Death of Farhad on Mount Bisutan, by Mir Kalan Khan, in the collection of the British Library, in London, from the Johnson Album 9, no. 11, has been given a pre-Kettle dating of ca. 1770.3 The treatment of landscape and figure, and the relationship between these two elements, are nearly identical in the example in the British Library and the painting under discussion.
See J.P. Losty, Towards a New Naturalism: Portraiture in Murshidabad and Oudh, 1750-80, in After the Great Mughals: Painting in Delhi and the Regional Courts in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Barbara Schmitz, ed., (Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2002), pp. 3455. For a discussion of Kettles work and influence in Faizabad, see Mildred Archer, India and British Portraiture, 17701825 (London: Sothebys Publications, 1979). Toby Falk and Mildred Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981), p. 138, fig. 240, p. 436.
12
Uttar Pradesh, Delhi ca. 1772-1780
Darbar of Shah Alam II
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, inscribed on verso in brown ink A Durbar or The Emperors Court of Audience A Durbar or The Emperors Court of Audience
Shah Alam II (r. 1761-1805) sits in regal splendor on a domed throne in an immense, colonnaded hall, with courtiers on both sides. The massive scale of the architecture dwarfs the figures. This painting shows the emperor, probably soon after he returned to Delhi, in December of 1772. In May of 1771, Shah Alam had left Allahabad with a small force under the command of his general Mirza Najaf Khan, for the express purpose of taking back the Delhi throne and restoring the bygone glories of the Mughal Empire. Shah Alam, however, was essentially given the throne and remained a mostly ornamental figurehead. British control over the region strengthened during this period, and a Maratha was appointed to run the Delhi administration. This painting may be interpreted as an attempt by Shah Alam to illustrate his reclaimed place in Mughal history. Although it is he who is the compositional focus, it is the architecture and the surrounding Mughal legacy that is the real subject of the painting. Most portraits of the emperor show him as a blind old man, referencing Shah Alams disfigurement at the hands of his wazir during a temporary evacuation from Delhi in 1788. The younger appearance of the emperor in this painting helps indicate its earlier date.1
For another earlier painting of Shah Alam in the collection of the Museum fr Islamische Kunst, Berlin, see J.P. Losty Towards a New Naturalism: Portraiture in Murshidabad and Avadh, 1750-80, in After the Great Mughals: Painting in Delhi and the Regional Courts in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Barbara Schmitz, ed., (Mumbai: Marg Publications, 2002), fig. 44, p. 44.
13
Aurangzeb Escorted in a Palanquin to an Imperial Hunt
Attributed to Sewak Ram Bihar, Patna ca. 1810 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, mounted on nineteenth-century album page with white outer border with gold leaves, innermost border of blue with intertwining gold foliate design, and inner border of deep-blue chevrons filled with foliate designs on yellow ground, borders with white and gold rules, and blue and gold outermost rules.
An elderly Aurangzeb is escorted in a golden palanquin that is carried aloft by bearers dressed in bright red. The emperor is accompanied by an entourage of courtiers and two large bullock carts. It appears the party is readying for a hunt, as a group of courtiers line up with falcons in hand and Aurangzebs imperial horse being brought to the side of the palanquin. The rest of the convoy is shown in the hills escorting a second palanquin covered with a red curtain. The phalanx of soldiers and caparisoned elephants carrying banners seem to be making their way toward the ramparts of the distant city at the upper right. Sewak Ram (ca. 1770-1830) came originally from Murshidabad and was one of the first artists to settle in Patna around 1790, where the British presence held the promise of affluence in the later eighteenth century.1 The artist was prolific, and the importance of his studio rose rapidly during this period. The studio received patronage from British governors-general, such as Gilbert Eliot (1751-1814), the first earl of Minto, and William Pitt (1773-1857), the earl of Amherst. Sewak Ram was apparently fluent in two distinct styles of painting, one closer to European watercolors, and the other, like this example, that was more traditionally Indian.
The attribution to Sewak Ram is based on another, nearly identical painting with an inscription giving the name of the artist. See Subhash Kapoor and Aaron Freedman, A Celebration of Twenty Years on Madison Avenue: 3000 Years of Sacred and Secular Art (New York: Art of the Past, Inc, 1996), fig. 25, pp. 54-55.
14
Delhi-Agra Region ca. 1530
Baby Krishna Tied to a Mortar
Opaque watercolor and ink on paper, verso with lengthy inscription

After Yashoda has hastened back to the house to find Krishna sitting on a mortar eating the butter from a smashed pot of curds, she decides to tie the mischievous child to the mortar. No matter which cord Yashoda tries to fasten Krishna to the mortar with, he contrives that it should be too short. Finally, upon seeing his mother so greatly vexed, Krishna allows himself to be tied. As seen in this painting, Yashoda goes back into the house, satisfied that she has secured the child, but Krishna begins to crawl away, dragging the mortar with him, until it is wedged deliberately between two arjuna trees. In the next part of the narrative, Krishna pulls on the mortar until he levels the trees. Everyone, including Yashoda, runs outside to see what has caused the great noise. Two dazzling gandharvanas emerge from the fallen trees. Krishna having released them from a curse in a former birth, the two bow to Krishna and fly up to heaven. The gods then shower the earth in flowers to bear witness to the lila of Krishna. This painting belongs to a well-known and widely published Bhagavata Purana series. This set is thought to be the earliest known to have survived, and was an important iconographic and stylistic prototype for later Indian painting. The series is especially characterized by its vigorous movement, intense palette, and imaginative compositions. Paintings from this group are dispersed among public and private collections throughout the world.
15
Illustration from a Gita Govinda Series: Radha Confides in Her Sakhi
Possibly from Aurangabad, Deccan ca. 1650 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, thin yellow inner border, black, red, and blue rulings, plain outer border
Dressed in a brilliant floral gold sari, Radha sits comfortably against a pink and green bolster with her sakhi, or female confidante, on a boldly patterned carpet. Her left hand gestures toward her friend in conversation. The sakhi, in turn, has her hands upraised as she listens respectfully to Radha. The white wall behind the women is decorated with alternating red and blue decorative bottles set into ornately carved niches. Two female attendants gossip together to the right of Radha and her friend. The topic of the ladies conversation is, of course, the dashing blue god, Krishna. The crowned divine lover stands outside in sandals, dressed in his characteristic yellow garments, and holds a lotus flower and scepter. He is depicted against an intense orange field, which serves as an effective and contrasting framing device. This painting comes from a well-known, dispersed Gita Govinda manuscript.1 The Gita Govinda (Song of the Herdsman), written in the late twelfth century, expounds on the irresistible intensity of Krishnas divine love. The style of this particular Gita Govinda series remains difficult to attribute with absolute certainty. It bears close similarity to a mid-seventeenth-century painting from Mewar, but it is also thought to have come from the Aurangabad court in the Deccan. This theory is based on the discovery of a colophon from a similar Rasamanjari manuscript found in Mewar.2
Provenance:
This painting is from the Benkhaim Collection and prior to that, from the Bickford Collection. Stanislaw Czuma, Indian Art from the George Bickford Collection, at the Cleveland and other museums, 1975-77.
Exhibited:
Leaves from this manuscript are in various public and private collections. For a list of additional pages, see Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, Vol. I, The Mughal and Deccani Schools. (Portland: Portland Art Museum, 1973), p. 156, pl. 130. Surya Doshi, An Illustrated Manuscript from Aurangabad, dated 1650 A.D. Lalit Kal , no. 15 (1972), pp. 19-28, pls. 11-13. a
16
Five Seated Pandava Brothers Acclaimed by Warriors on a Horse and an Elephant
South India, Mysore dated 1670 (samvat 1592) Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, black and red ink, brown borders
Painting: Folio: 612 x 7 inches (21 x 17.2 cm) 814 x 19 inches (21 x 48.3 cm)
The five Pandava brothers are seated together in a line, receiving two warriors who arrive on horseback and elephant. Painted alternately in yellow and brown with green and red pants, the brothers all touch their breasts with their right hands. Each Pandava also has a bow tucked under his right arm and wears a tall crown. The warriors arrive with big smiles and weapons raised in the air. The scene is presented on a solid red ground and is drawn in a rhythmical, muscular line. Although the temple and palace wall paintings in South India from the seventeenth century and earlier still exist, illustrated manuscripts prior to the late eighteenth century are extremely rare. This fragmentary Mahabharata manuscript from 1670 is part of a small corpus of early paintings of this type from South India. They are influenced by the earlier Vijayanagara style and are very important to the study of South Indian paintings. Folios are dispersed between the National Museum, New Delhi, the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad, (formerly) the George P. Bickford Collection, Cleveland, the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and a few private collections.1
Other paintings from the same series can be found in Daniel Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1987), no. 43, p. 100; and Joseph Dye III, The Arts of India: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, p. 375; Czuma, no. 124; Poster, 1994, no. 248, pp. 299-300; Welch, 1985, no. 21, pp. 54-56; Mittal, 1969, pp. 26-27, pl. 5.
17
Rajasthan, Bundi ca. 1685-1700
Vilaval Ragini
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, yellow panel with inscription in Devanagari, thick black rule, and wide red borders with lengthy inscription in Devanagari
In this painting, Vilaval Ragini is represented as a young woman at her toilet. The ladys attendant holds up a mirror, so that the subject can arrange a jeweled ornament in her hair. She is dressed elegantly in a sari, and adorned with a profusion of jewelry. A musician sits under the throne on a green carpet, playing a vina. A fountain filled with fish flows gently in the foreground. At the upper right, a peacock peers over the palace wall. The palette is intense and lush, as red, yellow, and pink contrast strongly against large areas of white. Joachim Bautze asserted that, based on the how the names of certain ragamalas changed after 1700,1 this series must predate 1700. The composition of the ragamala paintings from this series is developed from the well-known Chunar ragamala series done in 1591, which is seen as the prototype for the resultant Bundi style.2 This series seems also to be contemporary to the Bundi ragamala set, for which a large number of paintings are in the Kanoria Collection, and have been dispersed in various other private and public collections. There is, for example, a version of the Vilaval Ragini from this particular ragamala series that is very close in style and composition to the example under discussion.3
Joachim Bautze, Drei Bundi Ragamalas. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der rajputischen Wandmalerei (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1987), pp. 327 330. Another page from the same ragamala series is published in Amy Poster, ed., Realms of Heroism: Indian Paintings of the Brooklyn Museum, (New York: Brooklyn Museum in assoc. with Hudson Hills Press, 1994), no. 124, p. 166. See Milo Cleveland Beach, Rajput Painting at Bundi and Kota (Ascona: Artibus Asiae, 1974), fig.32, pl. 33.
18
Krishna Subduing the Crane-Demon Bakasura
Rajasthan, Mewar or Provincial Mughal ca. 1693 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, plain borders with inner white and black rulings and outer rulings of white and black with thin yellow border. Verso with erased Bikaner Collection stamp, Numbered folio 30, nagari inscription
Krishna engages the crane demon, Bakasura, in battle, as his brother, Balarama, and two other men stand by. Krishna pries the beak open with both hands, exposing a long, red tongue that flails about in distress. Blood pours from the side of Bakasuras mouth onto the white plumage, as Krishna rips the beak open, ultimately killing the demon. The background has been divided into two fields: Krishna and his entourage occupy the red half, and the demon fills the black side. This painting from a Bhagavata Purana series has often been considered an early example of the Bikaner school, dated ca. 1600.1 However, there is another painting from this series, in the collection of Art of the Past, New York, which has a colophon with the date Samvat 1750 (1693 A.D.). This dating changes radically how these paintings are seen. In addition, the traditional Bikaner classification may also need further study. The boldness and intensity of the paintings from this series, along with the style of the figuration, may point instead to a Mewar, or a Provincial Mughal workshop,2 especially if the paintings are from the late seventeenth century. Other leaves of this Bhagavata Purana series are in the J.P. Goenka Collection, Bombay; the Goenka Academy of Art & Music, New Delhi; the Suresh Neotia Collection, Calcutta; the Paul Walter Collection, New York; the collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, San Diego Museum, and other public and private collections.
A number of paintings from this series are in the Goenka collection, Mumbai, published in A. Krishna, Indian Miniature Paintings: J.P. Goenka Collection, (New Dehli, 1988), col. pl. I. Other pages are published in S. Kramrisch, Painted Delight: Indian Paintings from Philadelphia Collections (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1986), p. 92; Daniel Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection, (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1985), nos. 17 & 18. See Pratapaditya Pal, The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting from the Paul F. Walter Collection. (New York: Pierpont Morgan Library), 1978, no. 4 (b).
19
Rajasthan, Bikaner ca. 1690-1700
The Gopis Gather on the Banks of the Yamuna in Anticipation of Krishna
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, gold inner border, black and white rules with pinkish-orange outer border, numbered 15 in Devanagari on top border
The gopis gather on the banks of the Yamuna, chatting excitedly, as they, as well as the cattle, peacocks, and other animals, await the coming of Krishna. Three of the young ladies go to the well-appointed pavilion at the left to convey the news of Krishnas imminent arrival to Radha, who leans against a purple and green bolster, and joyfully raises a flower bud to her smiling face. A meticulously rendered landscape forms the background underneath a pale blue sky. Bikaner painting, especially from the late seventeenth- to the early eighteenth century, was influenced particularly by the Mughal style. This is seen most clearly in the careful attention to detail, the believable articulation of space and depth, and the interest in accurate depictions of flora and fauna. From a now-dispersed Bhagavata Purana series, this painting bears similarity to another early Bikaner painting in this collection, Krishna Decapitates Shishupala.1 It compares also to another contemporary Bikaner painting depicting the Kakhuba Ragini, especially in regard to the treatment of foliage.2
1 2
See figure 20. See Hermann Goetz, The Art and Architecture of Bikaner State (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1950), pl. V.
20
Rajasthan, Bikaner ca. 1700
Krishna Decapitates Shishupala
Opaque watercolor heightened with silver and gold on paper, plain border with black ruling
Painting: 912 x 1212 inches (24 x 32 cm)
After the great Mahabharata war, all the great kings were gathered at the Rajasuya (soma sacrifice at the end of consecration) of Yudhishtira. All those present praised Krishna, except for Shishupala, the king of Chedi, who, instead, hurled the filthiest of insults at the god. The attendants rose to retaliate against the king, who advanced menacingly toward them, but, before anything further unfolded, Krishna unleashed his sudarsana weapon in the form of a discus, decapitating Shishupala. This series, now dispersed, incorporates many of the features for which Bikaner painting is famous. This is demonstrated by the meticulous attention to detail and finely modeled figures, derived from Mughal influence, and the eccentric disposition of subject matter and brilliant, but subtle, color contrasts. Other paintings from this series, dated variously from the third quarter of the seventeenth century to the beginning of the eighteenth century, are in several private and public collections, including the J.P Goenka Collection, the Paul Walter Collection, and the ex-Binney Collection at the San Diego Museum of Art.1
See Daniel Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection, (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1985), no 68 pp 148, 149; B.N. Goswamy, Painted Visions The Goenka Collection of Indian Paintings, (New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1999), nos. 120-123, pp 151-154; Edwin Binney 3rd, Panorama de la miniatura de la India: Miniaturas de la colecion de Edwin Binney 3rd, (Monterey, 1973), pp 82-83, no 24; Pratapaditya Pal, The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting from the Collection of Paul Walter, Exhibition catalogue. (New York: Asia Society, 1978), pp. 96-97, no 25; Stuart Cary Welch & Milo Beach, Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks, (New York: Asia Society, 1965), p. 75, ill., and p. 120, no. 29.
21
Malwa ca. 1720
Ragini Devagandhari
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, red borders with thin black rules. Inscription in Devanagari in yellow panel at top and also on verso
The musical mode Devagandhari, performed after sunrise, is conceived as a solitary heroine whom the pain of separation from her lover has transformed into an emaciated ascetic. The heroine, a peacock fan in her hand, is shown leaning on a swing on the right side of the painting, and waiting for the object of her affection. The heroine in her altered state is shown garbed in a black loincloth and seated on a tiger skin, meditating, in a yoga position. The now-male ascetic still retains much femininity and grace from his previous life as a woman. The peacock fan, which the waiting woman had been holding, now hangs from the branch of a lushly flowering tree that is teeming with birds. The heroine-turned-ascetic now spends her days in the company of other ascetics, shown involved in assorted activities and colorfully populating the rest of the painting.
22
Rajathan, Udaipur ca. 1720
Three Elephants on the Way to the Chaughan
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, red border with black rule, inscription in Devanagari on verso, Maharaja Sujun (Sangram) Singh, in English, numbered 2/83
Three elephants are making their way through town on way to the Chaughan,1 or sports arena, located just outside Udaipur. Handlers and sardars are present on all sides of the animals, and Maharana Sangram Singh, under a golden parasol, follows on a brown horse. Attendants run behind him with fans, flywhisks, and the imperial morchal. Thirteen nobles on horseback ride behind the maharana. Townsfolk and children gather in the narrow streets to watch the spectacle. These thirteen nobles appear again in another painting from the same series, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. That painting shows the nobles seated with Sangram Singh inside the Chaughan.2 An inscription on the back (of the National Gallery painting) identifies the more-important of these guests: Bakhat Singh, Takhat Singh, Bihari Das, Pratap Singh, Kishan Das, Kishan Singh, Joravar Singh, Sam Singh, and Tulsi Das. The name of Sangram Singhs favorite elephant, Raja Gaj (King of the Elephants) Singhbadal, is also listed. In the painting under discussion, the large elephant in the middle dressed in elaborate trappings must be Singhbadal. The carefully written inscription on the reverse of the painting is in English. It is likely Maharana Sangram Singh signed the painting himself, since he had learned English and may have written his name on select paintings.3 Provenance: Published: The British Rail Pension Fund. R.M. Cimino, Life at Court in Rajasthan. Indian Miniatures from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century (CESMO exhibition, Palazzo Reale, Turin), Florence, 1985, no. 85
1
2 3
The Chaughan remained in use into the twentieth century. Raja Deen Dayal took a photograph of the arena in the late nineteenth century. See Andrew Topsfield, The City Palace Museum Udaipur: Paintings of Mewar Court Life (Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt., Ltd., 1990), fig. 3. See Topsfield, Paintings from Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1980), fig. 74, pp. 72-73. Toby Falk, Sothebys: Indian Miniatures The Property of the British Rail Pension Fund (London, 26th April 1994), p. 38.
23
Rajasthan, Mewar ca. 17301740
Lakshamana Watches over the Sleeping Rama and Sita Lakshamana Watches over the Sleep
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, yellow margin with black rules and red outer border, yellow panel with nagari text
Painting: Folio: Inscription: 15 x 9 inches (38.1 x 22.9 cm) 1612 x 1014 inches (41.2 x 26 cm) Ayo. Ramayana Ro Patra. 79. Pachae Rama Lakshamana Pache Bolya. Sajia Khro. Pachae Sajia. Kidhi. Vol Havae Shruta. Lakshamana Beg. (This Ramayana, page 79. Rama and Lakshamana talk of the time to sleep. In the back, Rama and Sita sleep, while Lakshamana watches over them.)
Rama, Lakshamana, and Sita appear first on the left side of the painting, looking for a suitable place to bed down for the night. Once the location is found, Lakshamana prepares Rama and Sitas bed, then watches over the couple as they sleep. The scene is set against a rich, umber ground peppered with sparkling white blossoms and shrubs. A white sky appears above, and the Ganges flows in the foreground. When they awake after spending their first night in the forest, the three will make their way to the hermitage of Bharadvaja at Prayaga, where the Ganges and Jamna meet, to ask the sages advice. This painting, from the Ayodhakanda, the second book of the Ramayana, is indebted to the Ramayana series painted by Sahib Din and others during the reign of Jagat Singh (r. 1628-1652).1 The use of a simultaneous narrative, in which the characters can appear several times within one frame to indicate the temporal or spatial progression of a story, was introduced by Sahib Din. This device enables the artist to include nearly every part of the tale. In addition, the palette, composition, and figural style are also developed from this important work.
See J.P. Losty, ed., The Ramayana: Love and Valour in Indias Great Epic (British Library: London, 2008).
24
Gujarat, Kutch ca. 1740-1750
Jharokha Portrait of Rao Desalji
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper

Large-scale jharokha portraits, such as this one of Rao Desaliji of Kutch, are rare but not unknown in Rajput portraiture. The paintings would originally have been set into recesses or glass frames hanging on the palace walls. The jharokha portrait was a Mughal invention. It originated from the Mughal emperors custom of showing themselves to their subjects from the same window of their palace every morning before they began their legislative responsibilities. This type of window was known as a jharokha, and portraits set in these architectural niches are referred to by the same name. Although the subject of this painting is of the Kutch ruler Rao Desaliji, it is thought that an artist from Nagaur or Jodhpur may have executed the painting.1 Raja Bakhat Singh of Nagaur visited the court of Rao Lakhpatji of Kutch, Deslijis son, sometime between 1740 and 1751, before he assumed the Jodhpur throne in 1751. Bakhat Singh brought with him a group of artists who are thought to be responsible for a group of paintings that include a large jharokha portrait of Lakhpatji, as well as this one of Desaliji.2 These two portraits bear close similarity to contemporary jharoka portraits of Bhakat Singh done at the Jodhpur court.3
2 3
Rosemary Crill has identified these similarities and attributions in her book on Marwar Painting. She also rightly attributes the Nagaur/Jodhpur style to several durbar and processional scenes painted for Rao Lakhpatji. See Rosemary Crill, Marwar Painting: A History of the Jodhpur Style (Mumbai :India Book House, Ltd, 1999). B.N.Goswamy & A. Dallapiccola, A Place Apart: Paintings in Kutch: 1720-1820 (New Delhi, 1983), frontispiece and pl. II. Andrew Topsfield and Milo Cleveland Beach, Indian Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Howard Hodgkin (New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1991), fig. 25, pp. 70-71; Crill, fig. 69, p. 92.
25
Rajasthan, Kotah ca. 1775
Episodes from the Siege of Lanka
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, black ruling and red borders
Two separate scenes from the final chapter of the Ramayana, the Lanka Kanda, are conflated in this painting. The narrative begins with the scene on the right, the monkey and bear armies attacking a giant demon. This behemoth is Kumbhakarna, a brother of Ravana, whom Brahma had cursed to eternal sleep. Needing the giants assistance in fighting Rama, Ravana appeals the sentence, and Brahma allows Kumbhakarna to awake for one day. The giant engages the monkey and bear armies of Rama, who are led by the monkey generals, Hanuman and Sugriva. After Kumbhakarnas eventual defeat at the hands of Rama and his armies, Ravana appears on the battlefield. Clad in golden armor, he storms out of Lanka on his golden chariot pulled by eight white horses. Lakshamana and Vibhisana shoot down his chariot and kill his horses, and the felled Ravana appears upside down, at the feet of Lakshamana.
26
Orissa ca. 1775
Krishna Appears before Radha underneath a Flowering Canopy
Opaque watercolor on paper, blue border with white ruling, inscription at top in Devanagari
Inscription:
Your moist lips glow/ Like crimson autumn blossoms./ The skin of your cheek/ Is a honey-colored flower./ Radha, you are intense./ Your eyes glow like gleaming dark lotuses./ Your nose is like a sesame flower/ Your teeth are like white jasmine/ The fiery arms of love can conquer the world/ By worshipping your face.
Krishna stands before Radha underneath a flowering vine. His right hand is raised in declaration, as he proclaims his love for Radha, who sits on a low platform. Krishnas words are apparently well received, since Radha has a coy smile and plays with her sari. A thin tree separates the two figures. The couple is set against an intense red background, with three horizontal bands, colored yellow, blue, and red, each with an intertwining floral motif, forming the ground below. Another band frames the scene at the top, under the inscription panel. Another painting from this dispersed Gita Govinda series is in the collection of the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad.1
Jagdish Mittal, ed., Sublime Delight Through Works of Art (Hyderabad: Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, 2007), fig. 35, p. 131.
27
Rajasthan, Bundi ca. 1780
Ladies Visiting a Jeweler
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, plain border with flecks of gray and gold, inner rulings of light blue, red, and green, outer rulings of red
Two young ladies dressed in all their colorful finery have come to the house of an old village jeweler with their maidservant. Garbed only in a simple white dhoti and turban, the gray-bearded man helps one of his beautiful patrons try some of his gold bangles on her slim wrist. The ladys soft, smiling eyes and her friends intense gaze indicate the ladies appreciation for the jewelry. The wife or daughter of the old man sits beside him, baby at her breast, as she heats more bangles over a small fire. Across from the busy mother sits the simply dressed maidservant, her hands on her right knee, gazing abstractedly into the distance. The style and palette of this intimate genre scene is strikingly similar to a well-known dispersed Ragamala series known commonly as the Boston Ragamala, because thirteen leaves from the set are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.1 Both the Boston series and this painting share a heavily shaded opalescent palette, which is typical of Bundi painting from the second half of the eighteenth century, and an example of the Rajput appropriation of Mughal painting. The brushwork is also unusually smooth. The margins of both the Ragamala paintings and this work are of plain paper with block-print decoration. Because of the close similarity between the paintings, it is thought this painting of ladies visiting a jeweler may have been executed by the same workshop responsible for the famous Boston Ragamala paintings.
Pratapaditya Pal, Ragamala Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1967), nos. 11, 13, 34, 47, 51, 58, 60, 62, 68, 70, 71, 73, 87; and Milo Cleveland Beach, Rajput Painting at Bundi and Kota (Asconsa: Artibus Asiae, 1974), pp. 38-39, fig. 100. Other leaves from the series are in various other public and private collections.
28
Maharaja Pratap Singh at a Holi Celebration
by Amar Chand Rajasthan, Kishangarh 1791 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, alternating gold and green borders, with innermost and outmost in gold. Verso with inscription (detailed below), and preliminary sketch of the painting
Painting : Folio: 1434 x 1112 inches (37.5 x 29.2 cm) 1714 x 14 inches (43.82 x 35.6 cm)
Inscription on verso: Tasvir Fagh ki Maharaja Dhi Raj Maharaja Shri Pratap Singhji Bahadur ki Umar Baras 28 Rajasthan ki Sanagher Aamal Musavvir Amar Chand (Painting of Faghun (Holi), King of Kings, Pratap Singh at the age of 28, by the artist Amar Chand)
A nimbused Maharaja Pratap Singh (r. 17881798) sits enthroned on the palace veranda, with members of his court and a host of beautiful young girls. They are celebrating Holi, the spring festival of colors. The tinted water and powder being thrown about stains the white architecture pink. At the horizon, under an evening sky, is Lake Gundalao, with red and green boats floating. The inscription on the reverse provides for a precise dating; it indicates that this painting shows Pratap Singh at the age of twenty-eight. Pratap Singh was born in 1763, meaning this painting was executed in 1791. The inscription also provides the name of the artist, Amar Chand. Amar Chand was one of the most important and highly regarded artists working at the Kishangarh court in the second half of the eighteenth century. He worked in the royal atelier at the same time as Nihal Chand, who is regarded as the greatest artist of the Kishangarh court.
Another painting by Amar Chand, illustrating the court of Sardar Singh (r. 17641766) enjoying a moonlight music party, provides information that is helpful in looking at the painting under discussion. As in this Pratap Singh painting, the Sardar Singh painting also provides the names of those depicted in the portraits. The name of most interest to this discussion is that of the previously mentioned Nihal Chand. The artist is shown as a middle-aged man, seated in the exalted presence of the maharaja, indicating that Amar Chand was quite young when he painted the Sansar Chand picture, but near the end of his career when he did this painting of Pratap Singh, approximately twenty-five years later.
Eric Dickerson & Karl Khandalavala, Kishangarh Painting (New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1959), pl. X, pp. 38-39.
29
Attributed to Chokha Rajasthan, Deogarh ca. 1825
Maharana Jawan Singh on Horseback, as a Bridegroom
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on cloth, borders of red, yellow, and deep blue
Painting: 4412 x 3412 inches (113 x 87.7 cm)
Inscription on verso: Maharaja Dhiraj Maharana Shri Jawan Singhji Ghoravan Dhule Asavan (Jawan Singhji on Horse Dressed as Bridegroom); Kimat (Price) 30 rupees; Maharana Shri Bhim Singhji
Jawan Singh of Udaipur (r. 18281838) rides to his wedding on a pale-pink stallion with his attending retinue, who hold staves, swords, a morchal, and the maharajas requisite hookah. The scene is painted against a green ground, typical of paintings from this period. Blue and white clouds touched with pink, orange, and gold roll softly across the top of the painting. Gold heightens the horses trappings and the figures dress. The broad physiognomy with its strong profile, seen especially in the treatment of Jawan Singh, and the beautiful fluidity of line, seen in the supple rendering of the horse, are characteristic of the artist Chokha. This master artist came from one of the most important Rajasthani artist families of the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the 1760s, Chokhas father, the renowned artist Baghta, worked for Maharana Ari Singh at Udaipur. From ca. 1769-1811, Baghta found patronage with the Rawats of Deogarh, a tributary of the Mewar kingdom.1 Although Chokha probably began his professional career apprenticed to his father at the Deogarh court, it appears that he spent most of his mature career painting for the Mewar court, especially Maharana Bhim Singh (r.17781828).2
Although Bhim Singh was Chokhas greatest patron, the artist also painted for the Maharanas son and successor, Jawan Singh. Chokha was active until ca. 1830, and, therefore, painted Jawan Singh both before and after he assumed the throne in 1828.3 There is, for example, a painting in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria that is attributed to Chokha and dated ca. 1825 that shows Jawan Singh shooting a hare.4 This large portrait of Jawan Singh on the way to his wedding is contemporaneous with the painting at the National Gallery of Victoria. What distinguishes this painting from the number of surviving portraits of Jawan Singh is the importance of the scene and the quality and size of the painting. This wedding was certainly of significance to Jawan Singh, and he would surely have asked the master of his atelier, Chokha, to record the event. An inscription on the back of the painting identifies the subject and the occasion. According to Andrew Topsfield, there are also surviving wall paintings in Chokhas style5 at the Udaipur palace. It therefore seems that, since Chokha was very comfortable with large-format commissions, he would have been a logical choice for such an important painting. The name of Jawan Singhs father, Bhim Singh, is also listed, but written by another hand. It is possible that Jawan Singh gave this painting to his father as a gift at a later time, and a different record-keeper noted the possession. Interestingly, the price of 30 rupees is also noted, which may have been the commission paid to Chokha.
1 2
4 5
Andrew Topsfield, Paintings from Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 1980), p.139. There are quite a few paintings that remain in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria that have inscriptions identifying Chokha as the artist, or are attributed to him, with Maharana Bhim Singh as the subject; Topsfield, figs.206, 207 (fig.2), 210, 212, 213, 216 (fig.1), 232. Paintings by, or attributed to, Chokha are also in various other public and private collections. Jawan Singh was Bhim Singhs only surviving son. There are also some portraits remaining of Amar Singh, the older brother of Jawan Singh, but he died in 1818, leaving Jawan Singh as the heir to the throne. Topsfield, fig. 216. Topsfield, p.139.
30
Maharaja Jai Singh III of Jaipur, Receiving Maharana Jawan Singh of Mewar in His Camp
Rajasthan, Jaipur Dated 1830 (Samvat 1888) Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, gold and red borders. Verso with lines of Devanagari identifying the rulers, ajmer ke maharaja dhiraj maharaja sri sawai jai singhji maharana jawan singhji
The two nimbate rulers sit against bolsters on a floral carpet with a gold ground and with a tented enclosure hung with lush panels of red velvet painted with gold floral patterns. The rulers respective retainers of nobles and courtiers, arranged symmetrically on a white ground, stand behind them on either side. Two horses and an elephant, gifts each has brought for the other, are on either side of the tent. The inscription on the back of the painting states that the meeting between Jai Singh and Jawan Singh took place at Ajmer in 1830 (samvat 1888). The purpose of the meeting was for the ruling princes of Rajasthan to confer with the Governor General Lord William Cavendish Bentinck. (Both states had submitted to British rule in 1818.) The rulers of Jaipur and Udaipur are mentioned, as well as is the Lord Saheb, i.e., Bentinck. The lists on the verso are of the accompanying sardars or noblemen. A painting of the same size, virtually identical in every detail but for the tents being painted with floral sprays rather than left plain, and without the horses and elephant, appeared in the 1982 exhibition The Indian Heritage: Court Life & Arts under Mughal Rule (and illustrated in the catalogue of the same name)1 at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Another nearly identical version, but with the tent decorated in a floral pattern, is in the Ehrenfeld Collection.2
1 2
Robert Skelton, The Indian Heritage: Court Life & Arts under Mughal Rule (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982), pl. 5a, no.155, p. 66. Daniel J Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection, (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1987), no. 78, pp.168-9.
31
Mokham Singh Watching a Dance on a Boat
Kishangarh, Rajasthan ca. 1835-1840 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, reddish borders
A nimbused Mokham Singh sits with his court aboard a large vessel, where he is elevated on a platform, as they all watch a dance performance. A smaller boat floats alongside and carries another group of dancers dressed in vivid hues. The event takes place on Lake Gundalao, and below the hills in the distance, one can see Kishangarh sprawling along the shore. The members of the court not invited onboard the boat are seated by the waters edge at the left. Mokham Singh assumed the Kishangarh throne in 1838, after his controversial father, Kalyan Singh, was forced to abdicate. Mokham Singh ruled for only three years, since he died in 1841 at the age of twenty-four, but he is shown wearing a beard, an indication of some physical maturity, and this painting was certainly executed toward the end of his life. This is an exceptionally large-format painting, and works of this size are quite rare. In addition, since Mokham Singhs reign was so short, there is little remaining from the period. The fine brushstroke and impressive attention to detail are testament to the continued high level of painting at the Kishangarh court into the mid-nineteenth century.
Published:
Pratapaditya Pal, Dancing to the Flute: Music and Dance in Art: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia 1997, pp. 270-271, fig. 172. Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997.
Exhibited:
32
Punjab Hills, Basholi ca. 1690-1695
Bangal Raga
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold and silver on paper with a red border and black and white rules. Inscribed in takri at the top of the red border: bangal rag bhairaveda putra, (Bangal Raga, the son of Bhairava).
Bangal, the son (putra) of Bhairava Raga, is depicted within a pavilion, seated on a blue carpet with scrolling floral designs and bordered by a green floral meander. He is shown as a prince, leaning against a large green bolster, holding a mirror and admiring his own visage, with a gold katar tucked into his striped sash. A female attendant, holding a flywhisk in her left hand and white handkerchief in her left, stands behind him. She wears a pink skirt decorated with floral sprigs. The tips of her fingers, like the tip of the flywhisk, are delicately hennaed. The figures are depicted against an intense yellow background, and the pavilions elegant pillars support an elaborate tiered roof with eaves projecting into the red border. In another Pahari depiction of Bangal Raga, the prince is shown tying his turban while an attendant stands in front of him, holding his mirror,1 but yet other paintings show Bangal grooming his mustache. In this painting, the prince has obviously completed his grooming and is admiring the handsome results in his mirror. It is likely that this painting comes from what William Archer calls the Second Basohli Ragamala.2 Two pages from this series were formerly in the Bachofen Collection. Another page with a very similar carpet, also from this Ragamala series, is in the Ehrenfeld Collection.3
Reginald Varney was a curator at the Indian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum and this painting was specially chosen by William Archer together with Robert Skelton as a gift for Varney, when he retired from his position at the museum to work at the Commonwealth Institute.
Label on the reverse for mount: Presented to R. J. Varney as a token of their esteem by his colleagues of the Victoria and Albert Museum, June, 1959
Provenance:
R. J. Varney, June 1959
1 2
Klaus Ebeling, Ragamala Painting (Basel: Ravi Kumar, 1973), p. 288. W. G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills (London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 1973), vol. I, p. 43, Basohli 14(i and ii); vol. II, p. 28, pls. 14 (i-ii). Daniel J. Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1985), pp. 186-187, cat. no. 89.
33
Illustration from the Shangri Ramayana: King Dasratha in Assembly
Punjab Hills, Kulu or Bahu ca. 1700-1710 Opaque watercolor on paper with an unpainted border, inscription in Takri: Top left-Dasratha Top left- Assembly Middle (in bold), number 7
King Dasratha sits crossed-legged, supported by a pink-striped bolster. He is dressed in a distinguished red hue with a katar tucked into his sash. Attendants stand behind him, one holding a flywhisk and a parasol overhead. With the approval of the Brahmins and ministers, King Dasaratha is announcing the coronation of his son, Rama, to an assembly of nobles. All of the men, except for one attendant, are adorned with a tilak of red or yellow.
There are four distinct styles from this well-known Shangri Ramayana set established by the scholar William Archer. This painting displays the distinguished characteristics of Style II. While all the styles show a certain lack of depth, Style II stands out with a strong use of pattern and contrasting color. The figures are marked by distinct, beaked noses and red shading under their eyes,1 and there is a sharpness of the detail to the painting. The strong lines of the architecture contrast with the soft folds of the garments and swirling design of the rug.
For further discussion on the four distinct style of the Shangri Ramayana, see B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitburg, 1990), pp. 76-79.
34
Illustration from the Shangri Ramayana: The Demons Retreat from the Monkey Army
Punjab Hills, Kulu or Bahu ca.17001710 Opaque watercolor on paper, with a red border
The monkey army of Rama has overcome the demon forces of Ravana, at Lanka. Hanuman stands to the far left, gesturing his army to push forward. Armed with boulders and uprooted trees, the monkey army is bludgeoning and otherwise wreaking havoc on their enemies, while those demons who can make haste to seek refuge within the palace walls. The distinct hard lines and ridged figures of this painting classify it as belonging to Style III of the Shangri Ramayana. Note how the figures stand out from the plain, flat background. Of the four distinct styles, Style III has the least amount of documentation. All the known paintings of this style depict the monkey army. Known as the Shangri Ramayana, these paintings have long been attributed to a Kulu origin. The largest portion of them had been in the possession of a direct descendant of Raja Raghbir Singh, of the Shangri branch of the royal line of Kulu, but evidence of Kulu origin has always been somewhat circumstantial. Contemporary portraits of Bahu nobility also bear striking similarities in style to the earlier works of the Shangri Ramayana, suggesting a possible Jammu-Bahu origin, but, in the end, there is no consensus regarding the attribution.1
For further discussion on the origin of this series, see B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitburg, 1990), pp. 76-77.
35
Parashurama Defeating Kritaveeryarjuna
Punjab Hills, Bilaspur ca.17001720 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper with white and black ruling and red borders
Parashuramas father, Jamadagni, has been given a divine cow, whose milk flows abundantly. Upon hearing of the gift of the cow, King Kritaveeryarjuna becomes deeply envious and decides he must have the divine animal for his own. He demands that Jamadagni give it to him, but Jamadagni refuses. King Kritaveeryarjuna becomes enraged, murders Jamadagni, and demands that his army take the cow, but Kritaveeryarjuna has underestimated Parashuramas strength: Parashurama has not only slain the king, but has also singlehandedly defeated the entire army. In a vivid composition of primary colors, Parashurama is depicted as deep blue and draped in red from the waist down. He wields an axe, which he holds overhead with his left hand, while, with his right, he holds the hair of King Kritaveeryarjuna, who is depicted as a fourteen-armed demon. Four of his arms have already been severed and are strewn about his feet. He holds an abundance of weapons, including a bow, arrows, an axe, and a knife. The divine cow has golden wings and flies overhead, while, at the bottom of the painting, Parashuramas father lies dying in the arms of a female attendant. There is a weightlessness to Bilaspur paintings, as the forms seem to exist independent of the background. The vibrant use of primary colors also links the style of the painting to the region. Parashurama is depicted with delicate, spiraled locks down the side of his face, another Bilaspur characteristic born of Mughal influence.1
Provenance:
Mandi Royal Collection
W, G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills: A Survey and History of Pahari Miniature Paintings (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications Ltd, 1973), p. 230.
36
Varaha Emerging from the Ocean
Attributed to Manaku Punjab Hills, Guler or Basholi ca. 17351740 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, thin white and black rules with red borders. Verso with five lines of Devanagari script from the Bhagavata Purana. The first line and a half is black, while the second half of the second line and third line alternate black and red letters, and the fourth and fifth lines are in red script. Inventory stamp from the Mandi State Library.
Against an intense, orange field, Varaha, the boar avatar of Vishnu, emerges from the cosmic silver ocean splashing water. The avatar is shown after he has rescued the sacred Vedas and the earth goddess, Prithvi, from the powerful demon Hiranyaksha. Although sometimes shown in an anthropomorphic form with only a boars head, the deity in this painting is depicted in his complete boar manifestation. Brahma, the sage, Narada, and another sage, who stand by the thin, green banks of the ocean, meet Varaha, expressions of wonder on their faces.
The painting is attributed to the master Manaku. The son of Pandit Seu and the older brother of Nainsukh, Manaku, was born ca.1700, and died ca.1760. Manaku is thought by some to have spent his entire career in the state of Guler, but others believe he may have spent time in Basholi. The Bhagavata Purana series, which this painting exemplifies, is known for its bold use of color and arresting compositions. The delicate treatment of the landscape, as well as the refined brushwork and unwavering lines, are characteristic of Manakus style. This series formed a stylistic and iconographic prototype, which was to have a profound influence on later Indian painting.1 As is seen clearly in this particular painting, the series is known for its energetic movement, vitality, and stunning color. This Bhagavata Purana is similar in style and format to the well-known 1730 Gita Govinda series painted by Manaku,2 and was perhaps painted as a companion series. The greater part of this Bhagavata Purana is divided between the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Chandigarh Museum; the Lahore Museum; the Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Udaipur; and the provincial Museum, Lucknow.3
Provenance:
Royal Collection of the Mandi Court (stamped on verso) Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Collection
2 3
For a full discussion of Manaku and his pivotal role for Guler paintings, see B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitberg, 1992), pp. 240-249. Goswamy and Fischer, 1992, nos. 100-104, pp. 252-257. For related pages from this series see Goswamy and Fisher, 1992, nos. 107 & 108, pp. 260 & 261; Sotheby's, London, April 29, 1992, lot 23; Archer, 1973, Vol. 1, no. 23, p. 51; Khandalavala and Chandra, 1965, Jehangir Catalogue, pl. N; Goswamy, Marg, 1968, XXI, color no. 4, pls. 23-24; Randhawa, Basohli Painting, pl. 4; Beach, Boston Museum Bulletin, 1965, pp. 168-177; Aijazuddin, p. 12-13, no. 7; Goswamy, 1986, nos. 83, 112, 136, 157 and 190; Goswamy and Fischer, 1992, pp. 244-5 and nos. 105-108; Daytona Beach, Treasury of Indian Miniature Paintings, figs. 26-37; Christie's, New York, March 22, 2000, lot 162; Dehejia, Devi, no. 83; Goswamy and Bhatia, Goenka Collection, nos. 185 and 186; Christie's, New York, June 16, 1987, lot 31; Sotheby's, New York, May 19, 1982, lot 106; Sotheby's, New York, March 22, 1989, 162.
37
Krishna Vanquishes the Demon Dhenuka
Attributed to Mahesh Punjab Hills, Chamba ca.17401750 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, thin white and black rules and red borders. Verso with brush drawing and two-line inscription in Urdu
Painting: Folio: 912 x 512 inches (24 x 14 cm) 11 x 7 inches (27.9 x 17.8 cm)
This painting is an illustration of an incident recounted in Bhagavata Purana Book X, verses 21-35, which tells the story of the defeat of the demon Dhenuka. One day, as Krishna and Balarama are walking through a forest, they come upon a grove of trees full of delicious fruit. As Krishna begins to shake one of the trees, the keeper of the grove, the demon Dhenuka, appears in the form of a donkey. The donkey kicks at the boys, but Krishna grabs the animal and throws him into the tree. More of Dhenuka's followers then appear, also as donkeys, and again Krishna sends them into the trees, until the demon and his followers are destroyed. The grove becomes the favorite resort of Krishna and the cowherders, and their cattle enjoy grazing there. In the painting, Krishna has just hurled the donkey demon into the top branches of a palm tree, while his brother, Balarama, looks on and cowherders play near their cattle. On the reverse is a brush-drawing study of the goddess Durga attended by Shivas bull and her own vehicle, the lion. This scene illustrates the musical mode Bhairavi Ragini, from a series based on the Pahari ragamala iconography of the poet Kshemakarna.
1
There are two other paintings from this series published in the Jane Green Collection, where they have been attributed to the famous Chamba artist Mahesh, or at least, to the workshop of the artist.1 All these paintings share simple, quiet, yet powerful compositions, as well as the ragamala studies on the reverses. This series bears much similarity to a series illustrating the twenty-four manifestations of Vishnu in the Museum Reitberg, Zurich, that have also been attributed to Mahesh, who flourished between 1730 and 1775.2
Pratapaditya Pal, ed. Pleasure Gardens of the Mind: Indian Paintings from the Jane Greenough Green Collection (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art), pp. 30-34. See B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitberg, 1992), p. 169, figs. 54-55; p. 178, no. 68 for reference). Other leaves from this set are published in W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills (London, 1973, vol.II, p.136, pls.13-14.
38
Punjab Hills, Guler ca.1780
The Shaktis Assemble before the Asura Hordes
Opaque and translucent watercolor on paper

To combat the countless demon hordes of the buffalo demon Mahisha, the gods lend their shaktis, or essential female energies, to aid the great goddess Chandiki. As told in the epic Devi Mahatmaya:
At that very moment, O king, in order to destroy the enemies of the gods,/And for the sake of the well-being of the supreme gods, very valorous and powerful/ Saktis, having sprung forth from the bodies of Brahma, Siva, Skanda,/Visnu, and Indra, and having the form of each, approached Candika./ Whatever form, ornament, and mount a particular god possessed,/ With that very form did his sakti go forth to fight the Asuras
1
This Guler painting depicts this moment of the narrative powerfully. Chandika, on a hilltop and mounted on her lion, is surrounded by the shaktis as they ready to engage the enemy at the base of the hill. With mouths agape and eyes open wide, the demons stare in fear at the divine assembly. The red, orange, and pink rays of light that shower down on the demons reflect the power and brilliance of the goddesses who stand with brandished weapons. Paintings illustrating the Devi Mahatmaya were especially popular in the Punjab Hills. This particular page is part of a dispersed series that bears close similarity to another dispersed series for which a number of paintings remain in the collection of the Lahore Museum.2
1 2
Thomas B. Coburn, Encountering the Goddess (Albany: The State University of New York Press, 1991), pp. 63-64. F.S. Aijazzudin, Pahari Paintings & Sikh Portraits in the Lahore Museum (London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd., 1977), especially fig. 41 (xviii), p. 47.
39
Illustration from a Sundar Shringer Series: Krishna Prostrating Himself at the Feet of Radha
Punjab Hills, Kangra or Guler ca.1780 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper with a dark-blue border
Inscription:
On seeing the evidence of another womans presence on her husbands body the Nayika becomes a Guru Mana. Tears roll down from the Nayikas eyes on seeing the marks of the red lac-dye on her husbands forehead. The enraged Nayika turns Manini. Then the Nayak tries to please the offended Nayika by falling at her feet. The Nayikas heart is filled with joy, and eventually this assuages her Gurur Mana.
Krishna kneels at the feet of an angered Radha in hopes of being forgiven. But with the warmth of her eyes and subtle smile on her lips, it is obvious that Radhas heart has already forgiven him. She even reaches out her hand to cradle his head gently. The couple is central in the symmetrical composition. Almostmirror images of foliage flank the room in which the lovers sit. The sharp, angled palace walls direct the eye to the subjects. Though the composition is simple, there is no lack of detail. Individual leaves and flower petals make up the foliage, and tiny dragonflies flutter overhead. Many similarities can be drawn between this series and the famous ca. 1780 Gita Govinda series, which is said to represent the highest quality of Kangra painting.1 The Sundar Shringer series illustrates the text by the poet Sundar Kavi, who was a contemporary of the seventeenth-century Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 16281658). The poem describes the various moods of love as well as the classifications of the nayika bheda, or heroines. The most commonly depicted example of the ideal romance is that of Radha and Krishna, so it is this couple the artisan has used to illustrate the Sundar Shringar. Their love is so intense that it is compared to the all-consuming desire of the soul for God.2
Joseph M. Dye III, The Arts of India: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Virginia: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Association with Philip Wilson Publishers, 2001), p. 350. Dye, p. 350.
40
Vamana Having his Feet Washed in a Kamandula
Attributed to Nikka Punjab Hills, Guler Style at Chamba ca. 1775-1780 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper. Black and gold rules with pink borders. Line drawing of front scene on verso in red ochre.
Vamana, the dwarf manifestation of Vishnu, appears as a white-haired Brahmin priest, with pale-blue skin, carrying a parasol. The dwarf places his left foot into a bath, and has it washed by the demon king Bali and a female attendant. Four priests make offerings and utter prayers in the center, and other demons, humans, and gods, including Shiva, stand by, observing the scene under a green and orange tent. Through the practice of austerities, Brahma grants King Bali a boon. With this power, Bali has taken control over the three levels of the universe. Vamana tricks Bali into giving him as much of his empire as he can measure in three steps. Bali laughs at the dwarf and grants his wish. Vamana then assumes the Trivikrama form, and grows to an immeasurable size. With the first step, he covers the entire earth. With the second step, he measures the heavens. The third step covers the underworld, and Vamana secures the universe from the control of the demon king. Vamana has his feet washed in a kamandula, as seen in this painting, after the final step. This painting bears close similarity to a contemporary Rukmini-Mangala series in the collection of the Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, which has been ascribed to Nikka, a son of Nainsukh.1 Nikka is known particularly for his fine draftsmanship and modeling and his propensity for asymmetrical compositions, with the focal point placed outside the center of the painting, and strong use of white and deep red. The artist is believed to have worked at the Chamba court under the patronage of Raja Raj Singh (r. 1764-1793).2
Vishwa Chander Ohri and Roy C. Craven, Jr., eds., Painters of the Pahari Schools (Mumbai: Marg Publications, 1998), figs. 11-13, pp. 107-108. Also B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitberg, 1992), cover image and fig. 147. For a discussion of Nikka, see Vishwa Chander Ohri, Nikka and Ranjha at the Court of Raj Singh of Chamba, in Painters of the Pahari Schools, Vishwa Chander Ohri and Roy C. Craven, Jr., eds. (Mumbai: Marg Publications, 1998), pp. 98-114.
41
Punjab Hills, Kangra ca. 1800-1810
The Wedding of Krishna and Rukmini
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper with a thin border of yellow, pink, and green, and a dark-blue outer border
Painting: Folio: 1112 x 1612 inches (29 x 42 cm) 1412 x 1958 inches (37 x 50 cm)
Krishna and his bride stand central to the composition, enveloped in gold from head to toe. Krishnas face is draped with a delicate, sheer veil, while Rukminis figure is covered completely, except for her tiny, hennaed hands. All the proper preparations have been made; streams of incense swirl around the couple, and a shrine to Ganesha hangs in the background. Wedding guests, musicians, and attendants surround Krishna and Rukmini within and near the palace walls, and some peer from windows overhead. The outer border is the deep blackish-blue hue of the late-night sky. A bright inner border contrasts with a pale-yellow background and alternating rectangles of green and pink. Pink and green recur in various repeated patterns covering the palace walls and floor. The attention to detail and fine brushwork characterize the high point of Kangra-style painting in the early nineteenth century. Like works from the masters of this time, the most well known being Purku, the painting has a delicate quality, and each one of the dozens of figures is painted with distinct features and uniquely designed garments. The same focus is given to the architecture. Walls, balconies, and terraces dominate the space, framing the central figures. Much like the works of Sajnu, this painting employs strong diagonals in the composition. There is still the skewed sense of perspective that has remained a key element in Indian paintings, where the central figures, rather than those in the foreground, appear the largest. The size of the figures is determined by their relative importance, with, in this example, Krishna being the largest.1
For further discussion on contemporary Kangra paintings, see B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitburg, 1990), pp. 356 and 370-372.
42
Attributed to Purkhu Punjab Hills, Kangra ca.18001815
Krishna and Balarama Stealing the Parijata Tree from Indras Heaven
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, thin white and black rules and red borders
A resplendent Krishna and Balarama stand with their Garuda mount, ready to pluck the desired parijata tree from the palatial heaven of Indra. The keeper of Indras garden, who stands before them, informs the heroes that, if they commit such a transgression, they will incur the wrath of Indra. Urged by the desire of his wife, Satyabhama, to have the celestial tree in her own garden in Dwaraka, Krishna ignores the messengers warning and welcomes the contest with Indra. Ready for battle, Indra, mounted on his white elephant, Airavata, bounds with his retinue toward the usurpers. Members of Indras court watch excitedly from safety, behind the white palace walls.
This painting comes from a well-known Harivamsha series that is attributed to the Kangra master Purkhu.1 Other paintings attributed to this artist remain in various public and private collections. Purkhu was known especially for his illustration of epic narratives done on a large-format scale. The Kangra master had an immediately recognizable style. For example, the clouds are rendered as bold, billowing spirals in pinks, grays, oranges, and whites. The composition is subtle, if not understated. Architecture, even though it is not the primary focus of the painting, also plays a major role in anchoring the composition.
For a full account of Purkhu of Kangra, see B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India (Zurich: Artibus Asiae and Museum Reitberg, 1992), pp. 368-386.
43
Punjab Hills, Kangra ca.1810
Illustration from the Mahabharatha: Krishna Mediating Between Two Kings

In this continuous narrative, Krishna is shown first with his brother, Balarama, in the upper-left-hand corner. Together, they meet with Vayu Devata, God of Air, outside their tents. Krishna is then seen inside the palace walls, along with Balarama, meeting with the local king and his advisors. A tiny Devanagari inscription over the head of each figure identifies him. This scene is from the Udyoga Parva, or Book of Efforts, the fifth book of the Marabharatha. Krishna tries to make peace between the Kurus and the Pandavas, but his efforts prove to be futile, and the two groups eventually go to war. From the high point of Kangra painting, this work is masterfully executed. The entire palace has been heightened with gold and filled with decorative details. The compositional layout of this painting is typical, in that there is no proper sense of perspective. Though Krishna appears both in the center of the painting and in the upper-left corner, he is depicted in both places in nearly identical sizes. Smaller figures appear within the palace rooms, with the smallest figures at the bottom of the page, closest to the viewer, in the form of men and women gathering water from the river.
44
Punjab Hills, Kangra ca. 18101820
Virat Swaroop

Painting : 11516 x 858 inches (28.73 x 21.9 cm)
Taken from chapter eleven of the Bhagavad Gita, this spectacular painting depicts the infinite and all-encompassing cosmic manifestation of Lord Krishna, as he appears as the Virat Swaroop to Arjuna. In the previous chapter, after Lord Krishna has explained to Arjuna how he is the-everything and the-nothing, Arjuna asks if he could be granted the favor of witnessing Krishnas divine self. Krishna agrees to the request and bestows upon Arjuna a supernatural eye, which will allow him to gaze without harm upon Krishna, since, without it, the vision of the god would burn brighter than a thousand suns. All at once a vision of the supreme, of the Allthe All-Formed, a force without beginning, middle, or endthe Infinite is manifest all around him. Even though Arjuna was given a supernatural eye with which to view this form, the vision is still beyond him, and he exclaims that it is difficult to look at. In his account of the experience, Arjunas thoughts and feelings are of such a profound nature that it is difficult for him to articulate them. As seen in this image, Krishna encompasses worlds and universes. He is that which existed before Time itself. All the deities, demons, and supernatural beings are part of him and extensions of him. Arjuna remarks that he sees Brahma, the Creator, sitting on his lotus-seat within the form, and that the Immeasurable One is even greater. In the painting, Shiva is also shown with Ganga, his Nandi, and Parvati. Agni, Indra, beasts of the earth, demons, mankind, and womankind are all emanate from him. His thousand arms display the multitude of attributes that signify his transcendence. Even the sky is transformed into a glimmering gold field, which radiates the power of the Infinite One as it too emanates from within him. It is not only the imagination, but also the ability to transform a vision into an image that makes this painting a masterpiece. The account of Arjunas experience is mesmerizing, dizzying, and awe-inspiring. That the significance of such a passage could be so effectively portrayed is a testament to the brilliance of this artist.
45
Radha Sits in Sadness While Krishna Dances in the Forest of Vrindavan
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper with floral border, inscription on the verso: From the third song of the first canto, Joyful Krishna, the refrain reads:
When springs mood is rich, Hari roams here to dance with young women, friends A cruel time for deserted lovers.
Painting: Folio: 934 x 1312 inches (25 x 34 cm) 1114 x 1412 inches (28.5 x 37 cm)
Krishna dances about the woods of the Vrindiban forest, as a group of gopis gather around to admire him. He swings his arms about playfully, as his long garland sways back and forth. Other gopis, except for Radha (who is identified by a small inscription in nagari), stroll joyfully about the forest. Radha sits, inconsolable, under a tree, while her companion tries in vain to lift her mood with a song. She has come to realize she has developed a deep love for Krishna. As the sun sets, streaks of orange appear on the horizon. The various moods of the scene are depicted in the strong contrast to the light colors of the figures and the open greenery of the forest, to the dark-green hues of the trees and foliage that create cavernous shadows within. With flowers blooming all around and young birds perched in the treetops, the artist has depicted the signs of spring, which is confirmed by the inscription Basant, meaning spring, above the head of Radhas companion.
Provenance:
Collection of Raja Dhruv Dev Chand of Lambagraon, Kangra
W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills: A Survey and History of Pahari Miniature Paintings (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications Ltd., 1973), pp. 307-308.
This painting is part of a series known as the Lambagroan Gita Govinda, as it was associated with the collection of the Lambagraon Palace. These paintings were executed for either Raja Sansar Chand, or his brother, Fatah Chand. Within this series, the sharply cut features and slender forms of the subject help to place the date of this painting around 1820.
46
Krishna Surrounded by Groups of Gopas and Gopis in the Waters of the Yamuna
Punjab Hills, Kangra or Guler ca. 1820 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper in red borders with black and white ruling
In this continuous narrative of Krishna frolicking in the waters of the Yamuna, he appears to the far left surrounded by a group of male companions, including Satyaki and Pradyumna, as well as the five Pandava brothersYudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. They have removed their upper garments, which lie in little piles on the riverbank. Krishna closes his eyes and covers his face as the group splashes him relentlessly. In the lower-right-hand corner, Krishna seems to prefer the company of the young ladies in the water, as he playfully throws his arms in the air and smiles. The supple young ladies include Rati, Revati, Subhadra, and Rukmani. To the upper right, Krishna plays fondly with his close childhood friend and devotee, Narada.
This set of paintings is not only unusually large, but is also in fine condition. Each image from the Harivamsa overflows with beautifully painted figures. This vivid depiction of a playful scene is also exquisitely detailed, with delicate shadowing of each face, depiction of individual strands of hair, and the amusing effect of splashing water. Tiny inscriptions in Devanagari identify the cast of important characters.
Provenance:
Property from a private German Collection Acquired from the Royal Library of Mandi in 1969
47
Radha and Krishna meeting in the Forest
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper with floral border, with a Sanskrit verse inscribed on the cover page in nagari script. The painting is marked on the back with a 19 in Sanskrit. Painting: Folio: 938 x 1434 inches (24 x 36.25 cm) 1134 x 1634 inches (29.75 x 42.5 cm)
Inscription on verso:
O Gopi, with your eyes that are distinctive in the world, every moment do not cover these two (breasts of yours) buds of Kadamba that belong to me. Saying this, and pulling away the covering of Radha's breasts on the bank of Yamuna, the son of Nanda was very happy.
Radha and Krishna sit face to face atop a blanket of petals, hidden from the commotion of events around them. Radha touches Krishnas arm gently as he cups her breast in one hand. He chides her playfully by shaking his fingers at her. Both are dressed in fiery hues, with Radha draped in bright orange, and Krishna wearing pitambur (goldenrod garments). The foliage that conceals them is highlighted with tiny blossoms, and birds perch overhead. Nearby, herders have brought their cows to drink, and gopis gather to fill their jugs with water, or swim in the swirling waters of the Yamuna River. The village of Vrindavan, surrounded by a protective brick wall, rises up in the background. The entrance has been elaborated heavily with a naqqar-khana overhead, which holds a band of lively musicians. The work of a true master, this painting is filled with flowing forms and textures. There is a strong sense of realism in both the figures and the flora, but there is still the forced sense of perspective so common to Indian painting.
48
Punjab Hills, Lahore ca.18501860
The Court of Ranjit Singh

Maharaja Ranjit Singh sits central to a composition consisting of twelve men, with Urdu inscriptions. Ranjit Singh is dressed in red and green and sits in a familiar posture, one foot tucked underneath him, the other propped up on a small footrest. An attendant stands directly behind him. From left to right, seated in golden chairs, are Ranjit Singhs constant companion, the young Hira Singh; his son, Sher Singh; and his Chief Minister, Dhian Singh. They are easily recognizable because of the use of the established iconography for each man. Against a deep-blue evening sky and behind the figures stands the palace, with white exterior walls and a green and red interior. A red and green canopy, supported by golden poles, stretches out from the palace roof. A strong Kangra influence can be seen in the treatment of the structure, more specifically in the gently shaded pink lotus shapes on the pillars. This influence is apparent also in the treatment of the border, with its light scrolling foliage on a dark background, surrounded by a wider pale-pink border.1
For similar examples of Ranjit Singh and his court, see B.N. Goswamy, Piety and Splender: Sikh Heritage in Art (New Delhi, National Msueum of New Delhi, 2000), p.110, fig. 100, and B.N Goswamy and Caron Smith, Domains of Wonder: Selected Masterworks on Indian Painting (San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, 2005), p. 261, fig. 111.
49
Uttar Pradesh, Delhi ca.1820
Mr. Flowery Man and Attendants
Watercolor on paper. Inscribed with identifications in Persian above and alongside the figures: Surdhaj, a Brahmin of the Chaube caste from Gokal, Brindaban, with his followers Ram Dani (of the Bhopa caste, resident of Nandgaon Barsana, holding the sunshade) and Gopal, known as Silu, inhabitant of Mathura).
The Fraser paintings are unique, in that they originate in the environs of Delhi, an area relatively untouched by European culture at the time of their production. It is likely that this watercolor was rendered at the hand of Ghulam Ali Khan during Frasers Himalayan expedition. Such quaintness as depicted in these paintings appealed as much to foreigners in the early nineteenth century as it does now, and pictures of this sort, along with sets illustrating native occupations, architectural renderings, and notable local curiosities were painted for sale to the British.
This elaborately adorned central holy man was known popularly as Mr. Flowery Man. His was a visual spectacle that was a popular subject with Company School artists. The exotic guise, including a tall hat covered abundantly with rows of flowers, a hookah, and tasselled accoutrements, borders on the fantastic, yet his role as a religious presence in Delhi was legitimate. To the left, a youthful devotee carrying a stringed musical instrument accompanies him. To the right, an attendant follower wearing a turban with a floral spray shades the holy man with a tasselled umbrella.
Mr. Flowery Man and his attendant form part of an even-larger assembly of seven fantastically attired ascetics accompanied by an attendant, dogs, and monkeys, in a gouache attributed to Faiz Ali Khan, another painter of Ghulam Ali Kahns circle. The gouache is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London. The holy man and his attendant also appear in another watercolor published by Stuart Cary Welch, and in an illustration in the Dehlie Book, compiled by Sir Thomas Metcalfe, the Delhi resident.
Literature:
Archer, M. and Falk, T., India Revealed, The Art and Adventures of James and William Fraser 1801-35, 1989, p. 110, pl. 97. Welch, S.C., Indian Drawings and Painted Sketches: 16th through 19th centuries, The Asia Society, New York, 1976, pl. 27.
Provenance:
William (1784-1835) and James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856) H. P. Kraus, New York Private American Collection
50
A Brass Merchants Shop
Punjab Plains, Lahore ca. 18451850 Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, pale-blue ruling and plain borders
The purpose of this painting is to illustrate a trade, in this case, that of a shopkeeper. It falls under the Company Style manner, with the paintings having a clear interest in documenting a scene of Indian life. Although Company School paintings are well known from the Patna and Tanjore areas, they were also done in the Punjab.1 Another version of this scene is in the collection of the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad.2
A brass merchant is depicted, in the middle of a transaction,with a wealthy sikh. He is in the process of weighing the merchandise for the patient customer. The merchants young assistant holds the ledger and sits respectfully behind his master. The shop is stacked with bowls, ewers, and utensils. Romantic paintings of Radha and Krishna, possibly illustrations from the Gita Govinda, hang on either side of the entrance to the storeroom. In the foreground, a couple from the street approaches the stoic buyer, hoping also to make a sale. A madari (street magician), with his two monkeys, performs in the street for the Sikh noble, while a dog watches the antics. A red and white awning frames the shop, and its walls are a gleaming white.
For other Company paintings from the Punjab, see B.N. Goswamy, Piety and Splendor: Sikh Heritage in Art (New Delhi: National Museum, 2000), figs.178-187, pp. 217-225. Jagdish Mittal, ed., Sublime Delight Through Works of Art (Hyderabad: Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, 2007), fig. 38, p. 137.
51
Vallabacharya High-Priest, Gosain-ji
By Ragunath Rajasthan, Nathdawara Late 19th century Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, inscription on verso with name of artist, Ragunath
Gosain-ji, sitting cross-legged, dominates the composition. He wears numerous strings of pearls around his neck, and pearls dangle from his ears as well. His orange robe is trimmed with gold, and he wears a gold bracelet on his left wrist. His right hand is in a blue rosary pouch with gold detailing. A tilak on his forehead marks him as a religious man. This portrait depicts Vitthalnath-ji, son of Vallabh. Vallabh was the founder of the Pushti sect in India. Vitthalnath-ji was often refered to as Gusain-ji, which translates literally to master of cattle. He lived in the sixteenth century, and, during his life, Gusain-ji wrote much commentary to the Gita. The artist, Ragunath, was one of the three principal artists from Nathdawara during this period.
Text:
Aaron M. Freedman Jennifer M. Moore Harish Patel
Design:
Photography: Subhash Kapoor Publisher: Art of the Past, Inc. 1242 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10128 T: 212.860.7070 F: 212.876.5373 artofpast@aol.com www.artofpast.com
2009 by Art of the Past, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright holders.
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