KOTA OR NATHDWARA, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY

This large painted textile (picchwai) is a backdrop for an idol of Shri Nathji, an image (nidhi-svarup) of the Lord Krishna. These textiles are typically hung in the temple of the Pushtimarg sect in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, where the large Shri Nathji temple is located. The textiles were often created as a matched set that would cover the walls and the ceiling of the sanctum (Kay Talwar and Kalyan Krishna, ‘Painted Picchvais from the Nathdwara Temple Treasury’, in Manesh Sharma, Padma Kaimal (ed.), Themes, Histories, Interpretations, Indian Painting, Essays in Honour of B.N. Goswamy, Mumbai, 2013, p.203). Beyond Nathdwara, Shri Nathji holds special significance in Kota after Maharao Bhim Singh became a follower in 1719.

This picchwai is very similar to one sold in Christie’s New York, 23 March 2022, lot 499 that depicts the festival of Sharat Purnima. The autumn full moon festival marks the night Krishna met the gopis beneath the starlit sky. Therefore our picchwai has Shri Nathji at the centre flanked by gopis dancing beneath the moonlight along with two temple attendants dressed in bright orange.

The border of the panel includes 24 paintings of darshan, or viewings, of Shri Nathji throughout the year. The image of Krishna is daily washed and dressed, sometimes multiple times per day, according to festivals throughout the year. A set of six paintings of Shri Nathji dressed for different festivals was sold in these Rooms 27 October 2022, lot 90 and a picchwai with a similar border was sold in these Rooms 26 May 2016, lot 78.