Page 118 - Bonhams Indian and Himalayan Art September 2013

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Sohni swims to meet her lover Mahinwal
Basohli, mid 18th century
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; under moonlight Sohni departs from her husband to meet
her lover watching over his buffalo.
Image: 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (23.5 x 19.1 cm); Folio: 10 1/8 x 8 5/8 in. (25.8 x 21.8 cm)
$6,000 - 8,000

Unhappily married to a man she despises, Sohni swims every night across the river to her beloved
Mahinwal with the aid of an earthenware pot for buoyancy. Tragically one night, however, her
sister-in-law has caught on and substitutes the pot for one of unbaked clay which dissolves in the
river drowning our heroine.

For other images and a full discussion of the scene see Markel, Drowning in Love’s Passion:
Illustrations of Romance of Sohni and Mahinwal, in A Pot-Purri of Indian Art, Marg, Mumbai, 1998,
pp. 99-114.

Provenance:
Private Collection, New York
Acquired in Paris in the 1980s

116 | Bonhams