Lot 1019
1019
AN ALBUM LEAF: ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: DESAKHYA RAGINI; AND A FLORAL COMPOSITION
On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial int… Read more
AN ALBUM LEAF: ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: DESAKHYA RAGINI, AND A FLORAL COMPOSITION

MUGHAL, DELHI, NORTH INDIA, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Details
AN ALBUM LEAF: ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: DESAKHYA RAGINI, AND A FLORAL COMPOSITION
MUGHAL, DELHI, NORTH INDIA, LATE 18TH CENTURY
Gouache with gold on paper, depicting wrestlers and acrobats practising in a courtyard, on an album page decorated with a floral lattice in polychrome on blue ground, the reverse with a central floral panel surrounded by a border comprising a variety of golden blooms and birds, with nasta'liq and devanagari inscriptions on verso and recto identifying the ragini and possibly the name of a patron ‘Raja Raghu putra Raja Ajay’ (Raja Raghu son of Raja Ajay)
Painting: 16 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. (42.2 x 27.2 cm.)
Folio: 17.4/8 x 11 5/8 in. (44.6 x 29.4 cm.)
Provenance
Gazdar Pte Ltd., Bombay.
Acquired from the above, 12 August 1963.
Exhibited
R. Ellsworth et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Arts of Asia and Neighboring Cultures, New York, 1993, vol III, p. 294, no. 223.
Special notice
On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in the outcome of the sale of certain lots consigned for sale. This will usually be where it has guaranteed to the Seller that whatever the outcome of the auction, the Seller will receive a minimum sale price for the work. This is known as a minimum price guarantee. This is a lot where Christie’s holds a direct financial guarantee interest.

Brought to you by

General Enquiries
General Enquiries
+1 212 636 2000

Lot Essay

The painting here clearly shows that it has been worked by a Delhi-trained artist both in the painting of the figures and in their setting within a landscape with trees. The margin is an unusually brightly colored version of a Mughal floral lattice. A similar margin is found surrounding a painting by the Lucknow artist Mir Kalan Khan in the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection (Steven Markel and Tushara Bindu Gude, India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, Los Angeles, 2011, no.17, p.168).

More from The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller: Travel and Americana

View All
View All