Important Notice

Kangra School
Mid 19th Century
Natural pigments on paper heightened with gold
8.25 x 11.5 in (21 x 29.5 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY



Sudama visiting Krishna is one of the more popular subjects from the late eighteenth century series of Bhagwat Puran, Dasham skand paintings. Three sketches of this episode were recorded by W. G. Archer in his survey of paintings from Punjab hills (page. no.? / Footnote to be inserted) and subsequently, Goswamy and Fischer uncovered the genealogy of the artists and ascribe the style of these paintings to the first generation of painters after Nainsukh and Manaku. A number of versions of these sketches and paintings were made, as events of the episode (in different Pahari schools) and they continue to trigger the imagination of artists almost two centuries later. This particular painting possibly falls in this group of latter versions.

Fig. 01 An illustration from W. G. Archer’s ‘Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills’, 1973
All the features, characters and elements of this painting are parts of different compositions put together without much attention given to style or period. Figures, faces, eyes do not represent one hand or one workshop. In all probability, a student was attempting to copy the masters, wherein he imitated the face of Sudama and few others from the Sikh schools (second or third generation of Nainsukh and Manaku, c. 1850 CE), face of the seated dwarpal in green clothes from a generation of painters earlier, and curiously the faces of the band members seated at the Nakkarkhana above the gateway do not match any Pahari or Punjab hills school. The colour palette and its application across the composition (especially green in the foreground and blue skyline) are off. The tone of all colours used are too bold for any generation of Nainsukh or Manaku’s family. When compared with the original sketch of Sudama (fig. 01), the worn-out patchy Jama of Sudama becomes a tattered lacy dress (much like those seen in later Garhwal school depictions). All Pahari masters paid special attention while drawing animals, especially while rendering elephants. However, the elephant in this composition appears squat with disfigured forelegs which would have been corrected by a master, had it been made in an eighteenth-century workshop. On an interesting note, the tiger seen in the painting is taken from an early eighteenth century Mankot and Basholi prototype. Thus, the mismatch of styles, colour palette, details, all allude to a much later attempt by an artist who was probably learning Pahari painting elements.

Kangra School
Mid 19th Century
Natural pigments on paper heightened with gold
8.25 x 11.5 in (21 x 29.5 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY



Sudama visiting Krishna is one of the more popular subjects from the late eighteenth century series of Bhagwat Puran, Dasham skand paintings. Three sketches of this episode were recorded by W. G. Archer in his survey of paintings from Punjab hills (page. no.? / Footnote to be inserted) and subsequently, Goswamy and Fischer uncovered the genealogy of the artists and ascribe the style of these paintings to the first generation of painters after Nainsukh and Manaku. A number of versions of these sketches and paintings were made, as events of the episode (in different Pahari schools) and they continue to trigger the imagination of artists almost two centuries later. This particular painting possibly falls in this group of latter versions.

Fig. 01 An illustration from W. G. Archer’s ‘Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills’, 1973
All the features, characters and elements of this painting are parts of different compositions put together without much attention given to style or period. Figures, faces, eyes do not represent one hand or one workshop. In all probability, a student was attempting to copy the masters, wherein he imitated the face of Sudama and few others from the Sikh schools (second or third generation of Nainsukh and Manaku, c. 1850 CE), face of the seated dwarpal in green clothes from a generation of painters earlier, and curiously the faces of the band members seated at the Nakkarkhana above the gateway do not match any Pahari or Punjab hills school. The colour palette and its application across the composition (especially green in the foreground and blue skyline) are off. The tone of all colours used are too bold for any generation of Nainsukh or Manaku’s family. When compared with the original sketch of Sudama (fig. 01), the worn-out patchy Jama of Sudama becomes a tattered lacy dress (much like those seen in later Garhwal school depictions). All Pahari masters paid special attention while drawing animals, especially while rendering elephants. However, the elephant in this composition appears squat with disfigured forelegs which would have been corrected by a master, had it been made in an eighteenth-century workshop. On an interesting note, the tiger seen in the painting is taken from an early eighteenth century Mankot and Basholi prototype. Thus, the mismatch of styles, colour palette, details, all allude to a much later attempt by an artist who was probably learning Pahari painting elements.