Page 169 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art

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AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RUKMINI HARAN SERIES: BALARAMA
BATTLES THE ARMIES OF SHISHUPALA
NORTH INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, KANGRA, 1810-1820
Folio 10 x 13¿in. (33.3 x 25.4cm.)
Image 8 x 12in. (20.3 x 30.4cm.)
$40,000-60,000
PROVENANCE:
Jens Peter Haeusgen, Bavaria, Germany, acquired between 1970s and 1990s,
by repute.
Nikolaus Haeusgen, München, Germany, by inheritance.
Balarama leads a vast army into titanic battle. Yielding his ploughshare and
charging forward upon his elephant alongside his cavalry, Balarama’s forces
outnumber his opponents — trampled and beheaded — ten to one. Due to the
lack of inscriptions, it is difficult to decidedly attribute the present illustration
to a specific epic. Balarama has engaged in battle in the Rukmini Haran, the
Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata. However, it has been suggested
that this folio belongs to a Rukmini Haran series, in which Balarama battles
the armies of King Shishupala. In this epic, Krishna abducts Rukmini on her
wedding day to Shishupala, while Balarama stages a military intervention to
prevent the king from retrieving his bride.

The present folio is a fine example of early nineteenth-century Kangra
painting. The dynamic composition implies the domination of Balarama in
battle; Balarama, mounted upon his elephant in a gilt howdah, controls half
the field as a tight configuration of interwoven soldiers, depicted in effortless
contrapposto, fill in the left section of the painting. Balarama’s elephant is
exceptionally executed, with fine lines capturing the texture of its wrinkled skin
and gnarled ears. The frenzied and crowded composition, juxtaposed against
the softness and simplicity of the plain green background creates a powerful
visual impression of the battle.
The style of painting mirros those of the the turn of the century nineteenth
century workshops. The elephant, with its exquisite detail and remarkably
similar brocades and ornamentation, are entirely reminiscent of those in
Fattu’s 1769 Bhagavata Purana series; reference an illustration from the Fattu
series at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, (2008.293) to compare. The color
palette and facial characteristics are reminiscent of Purkhu, though paintings
from his workshop tend to feature harder lines and diagonal compositions
and tend to be of larger scale. A similar battle scene from the Rukmini Haran,
sharing close dimensions and stylistic consistencies, but set upon a red
background, is published in The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting; Dr. Pal
attributes the published work to 1750-1775 Garhwal or Guler.

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