Page 34 - Bonhams, Indian and Himalayan Art New York July 23, 2020

835
AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A HARIVAMSA-PARIJATA SERIES
SCHOOL OF PURKHU
KANGRA, CIRCA 1800-1810
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Image: 14 5/8 x 21 1/8 in. (37.1 x 53.8 cm)
With borders: 15 3/4 x 22 1/4 in. (40 x 56.5 cm)
$30,000 - 50,000

This large format painting from a Harivamsa-Parijata series depicts innumerable figures set
within a grand palace: the men gathering to admire the splendor of the blossoming Parijata tree
planted in Dwaraka, and the women patiently waiting in an adjacent courtyard. As masterfully
composed here, the dominating architectural features are a key element of Purkhu’s atelier.
Another page from this series depicting the inner palace setting is in the collection of the
National Museum, New Delhi (Banerjee, Life of Krishna in Indian Art, New Delhi, 1978, pl.205).

Further examples of this series are published in Goswamy & Fischer, Pahari Masters, Zurich,
1992, pp.379-381, nos.164-165 and Pal, Pleasure Gardens of the Mind, Los Angeles, 1993,
no.17; and sold at Christie’s, London, 10 June 2013, lot 16; 25 May 2017, lots 66 & 67;
Sotheby’s, New York, 22 March 2002, lot 68; 24 September 2004, lot 114; and Bonhams,
London, 23 October 2018, lot 131.

Provenance
Private New Jersey Collection, 1970-2017

32 | BONHAMS