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Lot Essay
This lively scene depicts a musician beating his drum and an older trumpeter blowing enthusiastically on his trumpet with his cheeks and throat puffed out as a dancer whirls around with joyful abandon, his arms thrown up and his patka flying around him. The inscriptions, read by Vijay Sharma, identify the drummer and trumpeter as Rehgwal by profession and belonging to the Pahari villages of Danla and Barket, respectively. The dancer has been identified as Malohtar, from Jhagar or Kangra (Seyller, Mittal, Hyderabad, 2013, p.34).
The painting has been attributed to the Guler artist, Pandit Seu (1680-1740), the head of one of the most important families of artists who were instrumental in bringing about a momentous change in Pahari painting in the first half of the eighteenth century. He was the father of the master artists Manaku and Nainsukh. Goswamy suggests that Pandit Seu was a contemporary of Raja Dilip Singh of Guler (reigned circa 1695-1741) and probably worked under his patronage. On his visits outside the Pahari region, he may have encountered Mughal artists working in the plains and imbibed their naturalism into his style without completely abandoning his traditional manner (Goswamy and Fischer, Zurich, 1992, p.213).
Two other paintings which have been attributed to Pandit Seu find close comparison with the present painting. They share a similar sense of impromptu, being both simple and lively. One is the painting of Dancing Villagers, dated circa 1730, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.77.19.24; Goswamy and Fischer, Zurich, 1992, cat.no.91, pp.226-227). The painting depicts seven men dancing with abandon to the tune of four musicians in an animated manner very similar to our work. The Mughal-inspired individualised portrayal of the figures with their varied postures and flowing garments is accentuated by the monochromatic red background which is reminiscent of the strong Pahari conventions inherited by the artist. The other comparable is a painting of Dancing Devotees, dated circa 1730-40, in the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi (LM no. F.51; Archer, 1973, Vol. I, 12, p.148; Vol. II, ill. p.100) which illustrates a similar theme of men dancing in frenzied ecstasy set against a flat green background.
A drawing for this painting executed in a similar lively manner but with subtle differences is in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum in Hyderabad (acc.no.76.758; Seyller, Mittal, Hyderabad, 2013, cat.no.9, pp.34-35).
The painting has been attributed to the Guler artist, Pandit Seu (1680-1740), the head of one of the most important families of artists who were instrumental in bringing about a momentous change in Pahari painting in the first half of the eighteenth century. He was the father of the master artists Manaku and Nainsukh. Goswamy suggests that Pandit Seu was a contemporary of Raja Dilip Singh of Guler (reigned circa 1695-1741) and probably worked under his patronage. On his visits outside the Pahari region, he may have encountered Mughal artists working in the plains and imbibed their naturalism into his style without completely abandoning his traditional manner (Goswamy and Fischer, Zurich, 1992, p.213).
Two other paintings which have been attributed to Pandit Seu find close comparison with the present painting. They share a similar sense of impromptu, being both simple and lively. One is the painting of Dancing Villagers, dated circa 1730, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.77.19.24; Goswamy and Fischer, Zurich, 1992, cat.no.91, pp.226-227). The painting depicts seven men dancing with abandon to the tune of four musicians in an animated manner very similar to our work. The Mughal-inspired individualised portrayal of the figures with their varied postures and flowing garments is accentuated by the monochromatic red background which is reminiscent of the strong Pahari conventions inherited by the artist. The other comparable is a painting of Dancing Devotees, dated circa 1730-40, in the National Museum of Pakistan in Karachi (LM no. F.51; Archer, 1973, Vol. I, 12, p.148; Vol. II, ill. p.100) which illustrates a similar theme of men dancing in frenzied ecstasy set against a flat green background.
A drawing for this painting executed in a similar lively manner but with subtle differences is in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum in Hyderabad (acc.no.76.758; Seyller, Mittal, Hyderabad, 2013, cat.no.9, pp.34-35).