Page 151 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

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AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A NALA AND DAMAYANTI Damayanti faints and is attended to by maidens after Nala abandons A PAINTING OF A NAYIKA AND SAKHI Admired for its bold use of color and form, the Basohli school flourished
SERIES: DAMAYANTI FAINTS IN THE FOREST her in exile. Eleven pages from this series are at the Victoria and INDIA, PAHARI HILLS, BASOHLI, CIRCA 1710 in the Pahari hills in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although it is not
INDIA, PAHARI HILLS, BILASPUR, CIRCA 1760-1770 Albert Museum, London (acc. nos. IS.30-1954 through IS.39.1954 Folio 10º x 9√ in. (26 x 25.1 cm.) known what series this painting belongs to, it possibly derives from
Folio 7Ω X 11 in. (19.1 x 30.4 cm.) and IS.265.1953). Also, see W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Image 8¡ x 7Ω in. (21.3 x 19.7 cm.) a series on Bhanudatta’s Sanskrit love poem Rasamanjari, a popular
Image 6º x 9æ in. (15.9 x 24.8 cm.) Punjab Hills, London, 1973, pp. 184-7, nos. 43i-xi. Archer suggests the subject in Basolhi painting classifying and celebrating the moods of
series was commissioned as a moral warning by the queen-mother of $15,000-20,000 love. Here two women, a heroine and her confidante, are depicted
$12,000-18,000 Devi Chand (r. 1741-1778); fatefully, Devi Chand’s grandson and later with the typical stylized facial type dominated by their large, intense
PROVENANCE: successor Kharak Chand (r. 1824-1839) fell victim to the very same eyes. They sit in a landscape full of brilliant green and ochres closely
Sotheby’s New York, 4 June 1994 lot 368. vices that caused Nala’s demise, greatly threatening the state stability associated with the school.
of Bilaspur.