Lot 359
359
A unusual Painted wooden screen of a Jain pilgrimage
Property From a Private West Coast Collection 
A unusual Painted wooden screen of a Jain pilgrimage

INDIA, GUJARAT, 18TH CENTURY

Details
A unusual Painted wooden screen of a Jain pilgrimage
India, Gujarat, 18th century
Depicting various processions of men and women making pilgrimage to many different Jain shrines, inscriptions painted above some of the figures' heads, set in a hilly landscape with caves, trees, and streams filled with fish running along the sides, held upright by lion-and-claw feet, with gilding and polychromy all over
83½ x 84 in. (212.1 x 213.4 cm)
Provenance
Christie's New York, 3 October 1990, lot 233.

Lot Essay

Pilgrimage is an important part of the Jain religion. As the figures in this painting are both men and women and are depicted clothed, they are probably members of the Shvetambara, or "white-clad" sect. Shvetambara Jains hold five mountainous places important for making pilgrimage: Satrunjaya, Girnar, Mount Abu, Sammeda and Ashtapada. It is unclear from this painting which of these five sites are depicted. See P. Pal, The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, 1994, p. 63-74.

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