Page 70 - Indian and Himalayan Art Mar 21, 2018 NYC

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF STAFFORD ELIAS

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AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE DVADASA
BHAVA: MIR KANAK IN CHINA
SURROUNDED BY HIS FOLLOWERS
MUGHAL COURT ARTIST AT ALLAHABAD,
NORTH INDIA, 1600-1605
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper,
two lines of black nasta’liq above and below, the
reverse with 15ll. black, red and gold nasta’liq,
colored ruled margins each side, mounted, framed
and glazed
Painting 6æ x 4¡ in. (16.9 x 11.3 cm.)
folio 13 x 8Ω in. (33.2 x 21.7 cm.)
$40,000-60,000

PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s London, 11 July 1972, part lot 45.
The story begins with the narrator recovering
consciousness having passed out for a day. He
wakes to fnd himself somewhere unfamiliar and
after walking a very long distance in confusion
he arrives at a city. It then jumps to Mir Kanak
gathering his followers to carry out a holy washing
ceremony, which ends in a discussion with one of
his followers called Kab Das.
The artist of this painting in the original catalogue
was identifed as “Artist A.” As in the previous
lot the rocks are pronounced and there is a very
playful attention to the detail shown in the scenes
happening in the background.

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