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Lot Essay
Shiva and Parvati are depicted seated on a large lotus in a white pavilion surrounded by worshipping devotees, comprising gods and sages, standing with folded hands. Shiva wears a crescent moon in his crown and is carrying one of his attributes, a deer, in his upper right hand. Amongst the gods, Vishnu, Brahma and Indra stand on Shiva’s right and Surya and Chandra are identifiable on the left.
This beautifully rendered painting has been attributed here to the artist Sajnu when he was working at the court of Mandi. It bears stylistic similarities with several early 19th century works created at Mandi which exhibit a strong influence of Kangra and Guler painting. This phase of painting was termed ‘Phase Two’ by W.G. Archer and coincides with the arrival of Sajnu at the court of Raja Isvari Sen (1788-1826). Archer describes this change in style of painting as a ‘revolutionary break’ from the ‘bold, primitive’ and ‘at times, crude’ style of Phase One (circa 1700-1800). Although Sajnu is thought to have been a Kangra artist initially, Archer argues in favour of a stronger Guler connection in terms of style and subject-matter (Archer 1973, Vol. I, pp. 360 - 361).
Several features including the oval format, the delicate rendering of the figures, the bright textiles, the pale colours of the architecture with niches and turrets in the background, are similar to other works attributed to Sajnu (ibid., Vol. I, nos. 43-47, pp. 362-363; Vol. II, 274-276). Amongst these, our painting is very similar in composition to two works in particular which depict Shiva and Parvati being worshipped by Raja Isvari Sen (no. 46) and by sages (no. 47). The mask-like faces in the centre of the blue spandrels are also note-worthy. It was a Guler practice to include additional figures or scenes in borders, a tradition Sajnu carried over to Mandi, as illustrated in the borders of the aforementioned examples in Archer.
Although there are no known signed works by Sajnu, paintings attributed to the artist can be compared to a Hamir Hath series, circa 1810, which bears an inscription by him. There is another known painting of a phulgar or western horned pheasant by Sajnu, which bears an inscription identifying the artist and dating it to approximately the same year as the Hamir Hath series, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2014, lot 306, and now in the Kronos Collections (see T. McInerney, et al., 2016, no. 92, pp. 238-239).
For a Rasikapriya folio, attributed to Sajnu, which sold at auction recently, see Sotheby’s New York, 16 March 2016, lot 831.
This beautifully rendered painting has been attributed here to the artist Sajnu when he was working at the court of Mandi. It bears stylistic similarities with several early 19th century works created at Mandi which exhibit a strong influence of Kangra and Guler painting. This phase of painting was termed ‘Phase Two’ by W.G. Archer and coincides with the arrival of Sajnu at the court of Raja Isvari Sen (1788-1826). Archer describes this change in style of painting as a ‘revolutionary break’ from the ‘bold, primitive’ and ‘at times, crude’ style of Phase One (circa 1700-1800). Although Sajnu is thought to have been a Kangra artist initially, Archer argues in favour of a stronger Guler connection in terms of style and subject-matter (Archer 1973, Vol. I, pp. 360 - 361).
Several features including the oval format, the delicate rendering of the figures, the bright textiles, the pale colours of the architecture with niches and turrets in the background, are similar to other works attributed to Sajnu (ibid., Vol. I, nos. 43-47, pp. 362-363; Vol. II, 274-276). Amongst these, our painting is very similar in composition to two works in particular which depict Shiva and Parvati being worshipped by Raja Isvari Sen (no. 46) and by sages (no. 47). The mask-like faces in the centre of the blue spandrels are also note-worthy. It was a Guler practice to include additional figures or scenes in borders, a tradition Sajnu carried over to Mandi, as illustrated in the borders of the aforementioned examples in Archer.
Although there are no known signed works by Sajnu, paintings attributed to the artist can be compared to a Hamir Hath series, circa 1810, which bears an inscription by him. There is another known painting of a phulgar or western horned pheasant by Sajnu, which bears an inscription identifying the artist and dating it to approximately the same year as the Hamir Hath series, sold at Christie’s New York, 16 September 2014, lot 306, and now in the Kronos Collections (see T. McInerney, et al., 2016, no. 92, pp. 238-239).
For a Rasikapriya folio, attributed to Sajnu, which sold at auction recently, see Sotheby’s New York, 16 March 2016, lot 831.