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Lot Essay
In this episode of the Ramayana, Rama, Sita and Lakhshmana are in exile in the forest. Ravana, the King of Lanka and antagonist of the story, convinces the demon Maricha to turn into a golden deer to lure Rama away from Sita. Maricha accepts reluctantly, predicting his death at the hands of Rama and the end of Ravana and Lanka. The painting shows Rama shooting an arrow at the golden deer with Maricha revealing his true form as he dies. Mimicking Rama’s voice, Maricha cries out ‘Oh Sita, Oh Lakshmana’. As Sita hears the complaint from her hermitage, she implores Lakhsmana to search for his brother. Whilst Laskhmana is away, Ravana disguised as a mendicant kidnaps Sita as she steps out of the magical circle to give him elms. The painting depicts the moment before the dramatic abduction.
The particularly large format of this painting is noticeable. At 38 x 56.8cm (without its original borders), it is much larger than most Kangra paintings of the early 19th century already known for its large formats. See for instance the illustrations to a dispersed series of the Harivamsa of which folios are as large as 40 x 55.7cm. including borders (Christie's Online Only, India on Paper, 29 May-12 June 2014, lot 544). The present work relates to a Pahari tradition of painting for which the artist Purkhu of Kangra – and the members of his family give some of the best examples. He was known for his ‘remarkable clearness of tone’ but has a ‘very different flavour that [the work] of the Seu-Manaku-Nainsukh family’ (BN Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters, Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 2009, pp.370-371). In his narrative paintings of mythical tales, Purkhu gives simultaneous events the same importance. He uses diagonals freely to connect elements together rather than giving a sense of spatial coherence. Although according to the tale, Rama cannot be seen by Sita who only hears Maricha’s treacherous complaint, the figures are linked together by a diagonal line indicated by Sita, Lakshmana and Rama’s gaze at the golden deer. The artist who painted this work was clearly inspired by Purkhu's style and his compositions. However it is likely that it was executed later, probably a generation after him.
The particularly large format of this painting is noticeable. At 38 x 56.8cm (without its original borders), it is much larger than most Kangra paintings of the early 19th century already known for its large formats. See for instance the illustrations to a dispersed series of the Harivamsa of which folios are as large as 40 x 55.7cm. including borders (Christie's Online Only, India on Paper, 29 May-12 June 2014, lot 544). The present work relates to a Pahari tradition of painting for which the artist Purkhu of Kangra – and the members of his family give some of the best examples. He was known for his ‘remarkable clearness of tone’ but has a ‘very different flavour that [the work] of the Seu-Manaku-Nainsukh family’ (BN Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters, Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 2009, pp.370-371). In his narrative paintings of mythical tales, Purkhu gives simultaneous events the same importance. He uses diagonals freely to connect elements together rather than giving a sense of spatial coherence. Although according to the tale, Rama cannot be seen by Sita who only hears Maricha’s treacherous complaint, the figures are linked together by a diagonal line indicated by Sita, Lakshmana and Rama’s gaze at the golden deer. The artist who painted this work was clearly inspired by Purkhu's style and his compositions. However it is likely that it was executed later, probably a generation after him.