AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: PANCHAMA RAGAPUTRA OF BHAIRAVA RAGA

BASOHLI, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1680

Details

AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: PANCHAMA RAGAPUTRA OF BHAIRAVA RAGA
BASOHLI, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1680
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, a lord seated on a mat of leaves in a forested landscape, with a black antelope and two brown calves, an identification inscription in black takri script above
8 ¼ x 8 3/8in. (21 x 20.8cm.)

Provenance

The W.G. and Mildred Archer Collection
Francesca Galloway, London, 2005

Literature

C. Glynn, R. Skelton, A. L. Dallapiccola, Ragamala, Paintings from India from the Claudio Moscatelli Collection, London, 2011, cat. 6 , pp. 50-51
W.G. Archer, Visions of Courtly India - The Archer Collection of Pahari Miniatures, Washington D.C., 1976, cat. 7, pp. 12-13
W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, 1973, Vol. I (text) pg. 43, Vol. II (plates) pg. 28

Exhibited

Visions of Courtly India, touring exhibition, United States, 1976 to 1978
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 25 January 2012 - 27 May 2012
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, 22 October 2011 - 8 January 2012

Engraved

'pancham raga bhairava de putra' (in takri)

Brought to you by

Beatrice Campi

bcampi@christies.com +44 (0)20 3219 6159

Lot Essay

This striking painting depicts a bearded prince seated in a landscape on a bed of leaves with his pet black antelope and two brown calves. The design on the prince’s jama has been compared to a turban and a jama worn by Raja Kirpal Pal of Basohli (r. 1678-93) in known portraits. He also wears a similar necklace. Although the facial profile is not quite the same, Catherine Glynn suggests that perhaps this might be Kirpal Pal as a young man. (C. Glynn, A. Dallapiccola, R. Skelton, Ragamala: Paintings from India from the Claudio Moscatelli Collection, London, 2011, pg. 50).

For other comparable Pahari representations of Panchama Ragaputra of Bhairava Raga, see Archer 1973, Vol.I, Kulu 14, pg. 334, Nurpur 3, pg. 391; Tandan 1982, fig, 49c, pl.XXII; Dye 2001, no. 142, pg. 338.

More from Arts of India

View All