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Lot Essay
Inscriptions:
Above: the Rasikapriya I of Keshav Das, 26
In the margin: Prathama 8 indicating chapter 1, verse 8‘
Krishna, tell me, has your mind taken offence to you or has someone frightened it away?’ (Transation, H. Dehejia, 2013, p.133). In this scene from the Rasikapriya of Keshav Das the hero, nayaka, is doing his best to conceal his burning love for the nayika. Confronted by a sakhi – possibly sent by the nayika herself – to explain the strange behaviours he is exhibiting, he is reluctant to reveal to the concerned messenger his infatuation of her friend.
This painting comes from a known but widely dispersed Rasikapriya series. Joachim Bautze attempted to reconstruct the group in his 1991 book referencing the illustrations known at that time (Lotosmond und Lowenritt: Indische miniaturmalerei, Seattle, 1991, pp.140-143). The group is characterised by a particular meticulousness of drawing, demonstrated here by the particularly excellent handling of the diaphanous jama and ornhi worn by the nayaka and nayika respectively. Figures are also slightly smaller than in other 17th century Bundi painting. The elegantly depicted pavilion and drum, typical of Bundi painting of this period, are also somewhat smaller allowing for greater compositional freedom and inclusion of decorative details such as the floral rug on the adjacent terrace and line of flowers at the front of the composition through which a peacock strolls.
Other known illustrations from this series are kept in a number of museums around the world including the National Museum, New Delhi, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, and National Gallery of Australia, Sydney. Various pages have sold at auction in Sotheby’s London, 24 April 1979, lot 95; 11 October 1991, lot 806; 19 October 1994, lots 168 and 170; and 19 October 2016, lot 25.
Above: the Rasikapriya I of Keshav Das, 26
In the margin: Prathama 8 indicating chapter 1, verse 8‘
Krishna, tell me, has your mind taken offence to you or has someone frightened it away?’ (Transation, H. Dehejia, 2013, p.133). In this scene from the Rasikapriya of Keshav Das the hero, nayaka, is doing his best to conceal his burning love for the nayika. Confronted by a sakhi – possibly sent by the nayika herself – to explain the strange behaviours he is exhibiting, he is reluctant to reveal to the concerned messenger his infatuation of her friend.
This painting comes from a known but widely dispersed Rasikapriya series. Joachim Bautze attempted to reconstruct the group in his 1991 book referencing the illustrations known at that time (Lotosmond und Lowenritt: Indische miniaturmalerei, Seattle, 1991, pp.140-143). The group is characterised by a particular meticulousness of drawing, demonstrated here by the particularly excellent handling of the diaphanous jama and ornhi worn by the nayaka and nayika respectively. Figures are also slightly smaller than in other 17th century Bundi painting. The elegantly depicted pavilion and drum, typical of Bundi painting of this period, are also somewhat smaller allowing for greater compositional freedom and inclusion of decorative details such as the floral rug on the adjacent terrace and line of flowers at the front of the composition through which a peacock strolls.
Other known illustrations from this series are kept in a number of museums around the world including the National Museum, New Delhi, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, and National Gallery of Australia, Sydney. Various pages have sold at auction in Sotheby’s London, 24 April 1979, lot 95; 11 October 1991, lot 806; 19 October 1994, lots 168 and 170; and 19 October 2016, lot 25.