Page 90 - Indian and Himalayan Art, March 15, 2017 Sotheby's NYC

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PROPERTY FROM THE LANIER COLLECTION A nayika (heroine) seated within a brilliant yellow
chamber raises her nger in conversation with
A NAYIKA AND HER SAKHI WITH A her sakhi (con dante) who gestures with pressed
GREEN PARROT: A FOLIO FROM A palms towards a green parrot. On a cinnabar-red
RASIKAPRIYA MANUSCRIPT carpet with oral motifs. The parrot is considered
India, Northern Deccan, a vehicle and messenger of Kama the “God of
Aurangabad, circa 1650 Love” given the bird’s capacity to imitate human
speech and here may suggest Kama’s presence
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper in the midst of the conversation.
image: 4 by 5¼ in. (10.1 by 12.7 cm)
folio: 6¼ by 7½ (15.2 by 17.8 cm) Several other folios from Aurangabad are known
from dispersed Rasikapriya and Gita Govinda
PROVENANCE series’ dated 1650; see Saryu Doshi, An Illustrated
Manuscript from Aurangabad, Dated 1650,
Acquired 1994 Lalit Kala, New Delhi, no. 15. Ours is a very ne
example from Aurangabad, where the con uence
$ 5,000-7,000 of Deccani, Mughal and Rajasthani painting styles
converged and is de nable by its distinctive facial
and gural types, decorative elements and color
palette.

For a similar work, see E. Binney III, The Mughal
and Deccani Schools, Portland, 1973, cat. 130.

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