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Lot Essay
This rare and fine depiction of Surya (the Sun God) seated in a resplendent golden orb combines his characteristics with those of Vishnu (or Narayana). Like Vishnu, Surya wears a peacock feather in his crown and holds a conch shell and chakra (discus) in his hands. The Sun God is usually depicted holding a lotus flower in both hands, seated in a chariot being pulled by one and sometimes seven horses. The intense blue of the background makes the radiating orb even more luminous. Our painting finds close comparison with a painting from a Bhagavata Purana series, dated to circa 1740-45, and attributed by B.N. Goswamy to the master artist Manaku of Guler. This painting is now in the collection of the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, Florida (acc.no.89.16.690.04; Goswamy, 2017, C63, pp.182-183). The Bhagavata Purana folio depicts Dhruva, the pole star, as a youthful king carrying a bow and arrow, with a shield beneath his arm, seated under a canopy in a pavilion, within a very similar golden circle emanating tiny little rays, with a dark blackish-blue surround. Manaku has established a link with Vishnu by adding the Vishnu pada (footprints of Vishnu) outside the circle but still in close proximity to the star.
The elegant profile of Surya in our painting can be compared to the faces of Vishnu and Surya in a painting from Guler, The Gods in Vishnu’s Heaven, dated to circa 1750, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (I.S.130-1951; Archer, 1973, vol.I, Guler 29, pp.154-155; vol.II, p.105). Chandra, the Moon God, is also usually associated with an orb. For a painting from Bilaspur, dated circa 1700, depicting Chandra Ragaputra of Hindola Raga seated on an antelope within a white circle on dark blue ground, see Glynn, et al, 2011, cat.no.3, pp.44-45. Our painting is also reminiscent of two earlier illustrations ascribed to the Master of the Early Rasamanjari series, attributed to Basohli or Nurpur and dated circa 1660-70, which depict the Great Goddess, Devi, within a radiating golden sun against a plain background, being worshipped by other deities and standing over a male corpse (Goswamy and Fischer, 1992, nos.7,12, pp.36-37, 44-45.)
The elegant profile of Surya in our painting can be compared to the faces of Vishnu and Surya in a painting from Guler, The Gods in Vishnu’s Heaven, dated to circa 1750, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (I.S.130-1951; Archer, 1973, vol.I, Guler 29, pp.154-155; vol.II, p.105). Chandra, the Moon God, is also usually associated with an orb. For a painting from Bilaspur, dated circa 1700, depicting Chandra Ragaputra of Hindola Raga seated on an antelope within a white circle on dark blue ground, see Glynn, et al, 2011, cat.no.3, pp.44-45. Our painting is also reminiscent of two earlier illustrations ascribed to the Master of the Early Rasamanjari series, attributed to Basohli or Nurpur and dated circa 1660-70, which depict the Great Goddess, Devi, within a radiating golden sun against a plain background, being worshipped by other deities and standing over a male corpse (Goswamy and Fischer, 1992, nos.7,12, pp.36-37, 44-45.)