KRISHNA MEETING HIS BELOVED AT NIGHT (NISHIMILAN)
KRISHNA MEETING HIS BELOVED AT NIGHT (NISHIMILAN)
KRISHNA MEETING HIS BELOVED AT NIGHT (NISHIMILAN)
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INDIAN PAINTINGS FROM THE LUDWIG HABIGHORST COLLECTION
KRISHNA MEETING HIS BELOVED AT NIGHT (NISHIMILAN)

ATTRIBUTED TO NURUDDIN, BIKANER, INDIA, DATED SV 1751/1694-95 AD

Details
KRISHNA MEETING HIS BELOVED AT NIGHT (NISHIMILAN)
ATTRIBUTED TO NURUDDIN, BIKANER, INDIA, DATED SV 1751/1694-95 AD
An illustration from the Rasikapriya of Keshav Das, opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper laid down on a later pink support, the reverse plain
Painting 7 1/2 x 5 1/2in. (19 x 14.3cm.); folio 9 x 7in. (23 x 18cm.)
Provenance
Bikaner Royal Collection
Literature
J.P. Losty, Indian Paintings from the Ludwig Habighorst Collection, Francesca Galloway, London, 2018, no.41

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Lot Essay

The present and following lot both illustrate verse 30 from chapter 5 of the Rasikapriya of Keshav Das: Nishimilan, ‘meeting in darkness’. Originally presented to Rajkumar Singh of Orccha in 1591, the Rasikapriya classifies and analyses the various types of romantic heroes (nayaka), heroines (nayika) and the moods that inspire them. Here we see an evening scene in which the cowherds, gopis, are making their way home. However the two lovers, here represented by Krishna and Radha, hang back from their friends so as to share a kiss amongst the trees.

This painting comes from the Royal Bikaner Rasikapriya which consists of 187 paintings. Begun by the Bikaner master Ruknuddin at the time of the Siege of Golconda in 1687, it would be continued by his pupils. With the death of Maharaja Anup Singh in 1698 work on the series was paused, only to restart again in 1712. This painting can be attributed to Ruknuddin's pupil Nuruddin. The style, with delicate modelling of the faces and masterly depiction of textiles, seems to be his when compared with another painting from the series attributed to him in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1981.371.1) and Khajanchi Collection (Khandalavala et al., Miniature Painting: a catalogue of the exhibition of the Sri Motichand Khajanchi collection, New Delhi, 1960, fig.72).

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