A picchvai of Shri Nathji and Sharat Purnima

India, Rajasthan, 18th/19th century

Details

A picchvai of Shri Nathji and Sharat Purnima
India, Rajasthan, 18th/19th century
Beautifully and sensitively painted with Sri Nathji at center standing on a lotus base, flanked by dancing gopis on either side with fruit laden trees behind them, gods and goddesses in celestial vimanas flying through the star-filled sky, two mountains with temples below Krishna and white cows decorated with red handprints standing on the banks of a lotus- filled river at bottom, surrounded by twenty-four scenes from the life of Krishna identified by inscription, the entire painting with a red and blue floral border
68 x 58 in. (173 x 145 cm.)

Provenance

Private collection, New York, acquired in New Dehli in the late 1990's

Exhibited

Petals and Plumage: A Collection of Indian Textiles, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Massachusetts, 26 January to 20 March 2005

Brought to you by

Anita Mehta

amehta@christies.com +1 212 636 2190

Lot Essay

The Sharat Purnima festival takes place in the fall during the full moon. It is also when Krishna met the gopis beneath a starlit sky. In the present example, Mount Govardhan is shown covered in trees with a temple atop, below Shri Nathji and the gopis.

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