Page 82 - Indian and Himilayan Art

272
AN ILLUSTRATION TO A
RAGAMALA SERIES
INDIA, MANKOT, CIRCA 1720-30

Opaque pigments on paper
7√ x 7¬ in. (19.9 x 19.4 cm.), painting
8æ x 8º in. (22.2 x 21.3 cm.), folio

$10,000-15,000

The square format of this painting is
common in Mankot Ragamala painting
during the late 17th and early 18th
century; see for instance a painting
of Asavari Ragini in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York (18.85.1),
dated circa 1710, and two works in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
Alhaiya Raga (IS.26-1954) and Vinoda
Ragini (IM.66-1930), both dated to
1710-20. For a painting with a related
subject, see Desakh Putra of Bhairav
Raga in the Los Angeles Museum of
Art (M.83.105.10; K. Ebeling, Ragamala
Painting, Basel, 1973, p.277) . The
precise identifcation is sometimes
dificult and the inscription in the upper
border seems to identify this raga as
Goda Putra.

273
FOLIO FROM A DISPERSED HAMIR
HATH SERIES: HAMIR PREPARES
FOR BATTLE
INDIA, GULER, CIRCA 1800-1810

With dark blue foral margin and pink
border speckled with red, and an overleaf
with text
Opaque pigments and gold on paper
7¡ x 10¬ in. (18.4 x 26.9 cm.), image
10 x 13 in. (25.5 x 33.4 cm.), folio

$5,000-7,000

Hamir Hath was the ruler of Ranthambore
who, in 1301, refused to surrender
Ranthambore Fort to Sultan Ala-ud-Din
Khilji. This paintings series relates the
story of his downfall. For other folios from
the same series, see W.G.Archer, Indian
Paintings from the Punjab Hills, New York,
1973, Vol.1 p.162, no.56 and Vol.2 p.116,
no.56; Daljeet and R.M.Cimino, Four
Centuries of Rajput Painting, Italy, 2009,
p.226, cat.P17; Victoria & Albert Museum
(IS.453-1950), Los Angeles County
Museum of Art (M.75.114.5), and one sold
at Christie’s South Kensignton on 10 June
2013 (lot 282).