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Lot Essay
This pichhvai belongs to a small group of Deccani textiles which date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were made for Gujarati merchants from the Pushtimarg sect who had migrated to the Deccan. This was a sect founded in the early 16th century by the saint Vallabhacharya based on the adoration of Krishna through the Pushtimarg or path of grace. The wealthy merchants brought their religious traditions with them to the south and commissioned local artists to make these distinctive picchvais making lavish use of gold and sometimes silver.
This pichhvai would have hung behind an image of Krishna in a Vallabhachari shrine during the monsoon season. It is a rare example as it depicts Krishna himself standing under a kadamba tree in the centre. In other examples, Krishna is usually represented by the kadamba, a tree native to the region of Braj near Brindavan. The tree also evokes the story of Krishna hiding in its branches after stealing the clothes of the bathing gopis.
Other comparable examples from this group of Deccani pichhvais are in various public collections including the National Museum, New Delhi (64.291; P.B. Ramaswami and Kavita Singh (ed.), Nauras - The Many Arts of the Deccan, exhibition catalogue, New Delhi, 2015, pp. 90-91); the Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedabad (museum no.1131; Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Gates of the Lord - The Tradition of Krishna Paintings, exhibition catalogue, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2015, p. 43, fig.2); the Arthur Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (S1992.38; op. cit., pp.108-109, no. 46) and in private collections such as that of Thomas and Margot Pritzker (op. cit., p.107, no. 45).
This pichhvai would have hung behind an image of Krishna in a Vallabhachari shrine during the monsoon season. It is a rare example as it depicts Krishna himself standing under a kadamba tree in the centre. In other examples, Krishna is usually represented by the kadamba, a tree native to the region of Braj near Brindavan. The tree also evokes the story of Krishna hiding in its branches after stealing the clothes of the bathing gopis.
Other comparable examples from this group of Deccani pichhvais are in various public collections including the National Museum, New Delhi (64.291; P.B. Ramaswami and Kavita Singh (ed.), Nauras - The Many Arts of the Deccan, exhibition catalogue, New Delhi, 2015, pp. 90-91); the Calico Museum of Textiles, Ahmedabad (museum no.1131; Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Gates of the Lord - The Tradition of Krishna Paintings, exhibition catalogue, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2015, p. 43, fig.2); the Arthur Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (S1992.38; op. cit., pp.108-109, no. 46) and in private collections such as that of Thomas and Margot Pritzker (op. cit., p.107, no. 45).