Beloved among dealers, collectors, curators, and scholars, George P. Bickford (28 November 1901-14 October 1991) was a luminary collector of Indian and Southeast Asian art. Spanning Mughal and Rajput court paintings (lots 266-294), early Bengali modern painting, and stone and bronze sculpture (lots 213, 220, 221), the collection reveals a discerning eye and passionate engagement with the subjects. Mr. Bickford began to cultivate this passion for collecting after graduating from Harvard in 1922. He accepted a teaching job at a missionary college in China, where he began to collect small objects, including bronzes and a few scrolls. A year later, he travelled through India as he made his way back to the United States, visiting Calcutta, Banaras, Delhi, and Jaipur, before sailing from Mumbai. Over the next twenty years, Mr. Bickford completed a law degree at Harvard and became an attorney in Cleveland. During the Second World War, he was made a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Department, and he was posted to New Delhi in 1944. It was during this period of military service that his interest in Indian art, and his love for India itself, was rekindled into a lifelong passion. While in Delhi, Mr. Bickford met officers from the Archaeological Survey of India, including the young archeologist Stuart Piggott, and, visiting local museums, galleries, and dealers, he became immersed in study of Indian art; a professorship at Harvard and a curatorship at Cleveland Museum of Art bearing his name reveals the legacy of his scholarly engagement in the field. After completing his military service, Mr. Bickford was introduced to the renowned collector Nasli Heeramaneck, and he purchased his first Indian court paintings in 1946. In the years that followed, Mr. Bickford continued to build his own unique collection and he worked closely with the Cleveland Museum of Art to lay the foundations of its Indian art department, established in 1952. He became a Museum Trustee in 1957 and a member of the Accessions Committee in 1959. Three years later, the Government of India honored him with appointment as Honorary Consul of India in Cleveland. The George P. Bickford collection was exhibited at eight major museums and university museums in 1975-76, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Phoenix Art Museum, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, and the University Art Museum at Berkeley, California, with an accompanying publication including an introduction by W. G. Archer, renowned scholar of Indian paintings and Keeper Emeritus of the Indian Section at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The integrity of each work alone and the breadth of the collection as a whole, reveals the passion and ingenuity of the man who brought together these works of art.

A painting from a Ragamala series: Kanada Ragini

INDIA, RAJASTHAN, CIRCA 1750

Details

A painting from a Ragamala series: Kanada Ragini
India, Rajasthan, circa 1750
Krishna with an attendant standing in a jharoka at center and looking towards courtiers at left, each with their arms raised, an elephant with his handlers in the foreground, a yellow panel with text above
Opaque pigments and gold on wasli
10 1/8 x 7½ in. (25.7 x 19.0 cm.)

Provenance

George P. Bickford Collection, acquired by 7 February 1964
Private collection, New York, by inheritance

Literature

S. Czuma, Indian Art from the George P. Bickford Collection, 1975, cat. no. 72.

Exhibited

On loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 7 February 1964 - 27 May 1977
Indian Art from the George P. Bickford Collection, 14 January - 16 February 1975 at The Cleveland Museum of Art; 20 March - 25 April, 1975 at the University Art Museum, The University of Texas in Austin; 5 October - 9 November 1975 at Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois in Champaign; 3 February - 7 March 1976 at Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; 28 March - 3 May 1976 at University Gallery, University of Florida in Gainesville; 28 May - 30 July 1976 at Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona; 5 October - 28 November 1976 at University Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley; 2 January - 13 February 1977 at University of Michigan Museum of Art at Ann Arbor

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Lot Essay

The kanada ragini was a piece of music played when a king returned successful after a hunt, usually the capture of an elephant. In this painting, the king is Krishna and he is saluted by the courtiers while mahouts attempt to tame elephant he has brought back.

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