GARHWAL, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1800-1820

Another very large series of illustrations to the Mahabharata, closely comparable to this painting, was formerly in the Rothenstien collection and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum which W.G. Archer attributes to Garhwal, circa 1800-1820 (W. G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, no.24i and ii, p.87 and 118). This painting and the comparable paintings in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrate male figures with the same distinctive moustaches. The textiles depicted on the saddle cloths and used for the tents in the background are identical to those shown in the Victorian and Albert museum comparable. The strong geometric forms and the delicate flow of the figures shows clear influence of the predominant Kangra and Guler schools. Later artists based at Garhwal such as Chaitu, related to the famous Seu dynasty of painters, were known to have travelled between courts in the Punjab hills.