Page 12 - Indian, Himalayan and Tibetan Art March 2018

1003

AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE BHAGAVATA The infant Krishna at the breast of the crumpled demoness
PURANA: THE INFANT KRISHNA SLAYS THE Putana suckling the life out of her. His mother Yashoda gently
DEMONESS PUTANA pulls at his arm - concerned that Krishna’s once beautiful
India, Guler, circa 1780-90 nurse has been transformed and her true identity revealed as a
demoness - sent by Krishna’s vengeful uncle Kamsa to poison
Attributed to the workshop of Seu-Nainsukh
the child. Gopis with Nanda and Balarama look on gesturing
Opaque watercolor on paper heightened with gold with wonder at the sight. A single tree with a sturdy dark trunk
image: 9¼ by 6⅝ in. (23.5 by 16.8 cm) and beautifully de+ ned green leaves diagonally frames the
folio: 11¾ by 9 in. (29.8 by 22.9 cm) unframed scene against a delicate light-blue sky. Dark clouds tinged
with crimson recede at the upper right. A re+ ned composition
PROVENANCE
of great clarity and elegance.
Collection of Mr. Gordon H. Mattison, Maryland
This extremely + ne miniature is attributable to painters of
the workshop of the Seu-Nainsukh family - active primarily
$ 20,000-30,000
at the court of Guler during the generation after Nainsukh
in the latter Eighteenth Century. For a further discussion
on the history and characteristics of this workshop see B.N.
Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer “The First Generation After
Manaku and Nainsukh of Guler” pp. 687 - 718, essay in Masters
of Indian Painting 1100-1650, Artibus Asiae, 2015. And for
comparisons to some Rajasthani examples of the Putana
episode see: Andrew Tops+ eld, In the Realm of Gods and
Kings, London, 2004, pp. 148-149, cat. 57, and Darielle Mason
(Ed.), Intimate Worlds: Indian Paintings from the Alvin O. Bellak
Collection, Philadelphia 2001, pp. 144-145, cat.57.

10 SOTHEBY’S