Page 163 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED WEST COAST COLLECTION
470
A PAINTING OF RADHA AT HER TOILETTE
NORTH INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, GULER, CIRCA 1820
Folio 11º x 8¬ in. (28.6 x 21.9 cm.)
Image 8¿ x 5Ω in. (20.6 x 14 cm.)
$15,000-20,000
Radha sits perched upon a low chair, her attention turned toward a woman
delivering a message from her lover Krishna. She is nude, save for an
assortment of gold bangles, a nose ring and the long tresses of black hair
that fall in sinuous lines down her back and chest. The accoutrements of her
toilette are arranged on a gold dish below the platform. Krishna spies on the
intimate moment from atop the building.
This scene is known from the Sat Sai, a work by the 17th century poet Bihari
emphasizing the love between Krishna and Radha. According to the verses,
the messenger tells Radha:

Dear girl, delicate as Lakshmi, Krishna has stopped smearing his bosom with
camphor-and-sandal paste, fearing it will be a burden to your tender image
enshrined in his heart. Go to him and remove the grief of his parting.

Two similar scenes from the Guler school are published in W.G. Archer 1973,
Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, nos. 66 and 68, p. 118.
Also see lot 474 in this sale.

160