NATHDWARA, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, LATE 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Lotus pichhvai, known as kamal ki pichhvai, are hung in the summer months in Pushtimarg havelis to create a cool atmosphere in the Sri Nathji shrine in Nathdwara. The lotus flowers and water below evoke the Yamuna River where Krishna grew up. Radha and Krishna stand on an island amongst the lotus blossoms while bees and butterflies hover around them recalling the works of the ashtachap poets in which Krishna is compared to a bee and Radha, his beloved, to lotuses.

A well-known but smaller kamal ki pichhvai is in the collection of Amit Ambalal and illustrated in M. Ghose, Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Painting, Chicago, p.98, cat.38. Another example is in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore (acc.no.2001-02605). Similar pichhvais of Krishna and Radha amidst the lotuses were sold in Christie's New York, 22 September 2021, lot 473 and 20 March 2019, lot 731.