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Lot Essay
The present painting illustrates a section of the millions of monkey and bear troops crossing the 400-mile long bridge to Lanka to take on Ravana's army. The soldiers, demonstrably anxious and excited as they approach battle, are lead by a band of musicians and trailed by the great Sugriva. The great bridge, constructed with local rocks, trees, and Rama's arrows, was sturdily constructed by the architect Nala in only five days. Benevolent creatures emerge from swirling eddies in the ocean below.
This painting represents a scene from the fifth book, the Sundarakanda, of the Ramayana. There are only fifteen known paintings of this style, all from the same book, suggesting the group may have been commissioned to fill a gap in an existing series. It would appear that the group likely comes from a progression of Chamba series first commissioned in 1760 and discontinued in 1764 after the death of Raja Umed Singh; the series was then continued about fifteen years later, circa 1780-5, in a series for the third book, the Arayanakanda, which advances the style closer to the present series. The present chapter is attributed to circa 1800-1810, with consideration to stylistic characteristics that can be attributed to Garhwal workshops that permeated into Chamba around the Gurkha conquest of 1804. For further discussion on the series, illustrated in full, see S. Ray and J. P. Losty, 15 Paintings Depicting the Adventures of Hanuman on Lanka from the Ramayana, London, 2016. Paintings from this series recently sold at Christie's New York, 23 March 2022, lot 475, and Christie's London, 27 October 2022, lot 106. See the following lot for another painting from this series.
This painting represents a scene from the fifth book, the Sundarakanda, of the Ramayana. There are only fifteen known paintings of this style, all from the same book, suggesting the group may have been commissioned to fill a gap in an existing series. It would appear that the group likely comes from a progression of Chamba series first commissioned in 1760 and discontinued in 1764 after the death of Raja Umed Singh; the series was then continued about fifteen years later, circa 1780-5, in a series for the third book, the Arayanakanda, which advances the style closer to the present series. The present chapter is attributed to circa 1800-1810, with consideration to stylistic characteristics that can be attributed to Garhwal workshops that permeated into Chamba around the Gurkha conquest of 1804. For further discussion on the series, illustrated in full, see S. Ray and J. P. Losty, 15 Paintings Depicting the Adventures of Hanuman on Lanka from the Ramayana, London, 2016. Paintings from this series recently sold at Christie's New York, 23 March 2022, lot 475, and Christie's London, 27 October 2022, lot 106. See the following lot for another painting from this series.