A PAGE FROM A MUGHAL ALBUM: THE FESTIVAL OF HOLI

THE PAINTING OUDH, CIRCA 1760-70; CALLIGRAPHIC PANEL INDIA OR IRAN, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A PAGE FROM A MUGHAL ALBUM: THE FESTIVAL OF HOLI
THE PAINTING OUDH, CIRCA 1760-70; CALLIGRAPHIC PANEL INDIA OR IRAN, 18TH CENTURY
Illustrating an inebriated princess being carried by her lover and a female attendant, a crowd of dancers and musicians celebrating the festival of holi, ladies with water pumps spraying colours at their companions in the foreground, a lady climbing up stairs with bottles pursuing a companion, others watching from a pavilion, between gold floral borders, the reverse with a calligraphic panel with 8ll. of black nasta'liq script, each side with gold-speckled card margins, some flaking and rubbing, mounted, framed and glazed
Painting 11 7/8 x 8in. (30 x 20.5cm.); page 15¾ x 11 1/8in. (40 x 28.3cm.)

Lot Essay

Attested in ancient texts, murals and in paintings such as the present example, the spring festival of Holi is an auspicious event in the Hindu calendar. It celebrates the triumph of good over evil exemplified by the burning of effigies of Holika on bonfires erected at crossroads and culminate with the exhuberant spraying of colored powders and water.

More from Arts of India

View All