Page 97 - Indian and Himalayan Art, March 15, 2017 Sotheby's NYC

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PROPERTY FROM THE LANIER COLLECTION An elder Jain monk recites scripture from an
oblong manuscript folio - perhaps the Kalpasutra.
THREE JAIN MONKS DISCUSS He sits in discussion with two monks before a
SCRIPTURE tripod covered with an orange oral cloth tied
India, Rajasthan, Marwar or with three tassels. The three Shwetambar priests
Jaisalmer, mid-18th Century wear white muhapatti (face masks) tied through
their pierced ears - each holds a whisk for
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper sweeping insects from their path. They sit before
image: 8¾ by 7¼ in. (20.3 by 17.7 cm) a white walled, red-columned temple framed by a
vermilion-red entranceway.
PROVENANCE
We are immediately struck by the color palette
Private English collection of this unusual work. Its muted mauve, white
Acquired 2010 and husky brown hues are warm and dry - the
product of a desert climate. Its gures drawn in
a wiry gray-black line with de ning facial pro les
is in a style most closely associated with the Thar
Desert regions of Marwar in Western Rajasthan.
It is an unusual composition, the large Jain gures
seem to glow against the white architecture.
Surely from a thikana of Marwar or perhaps an
even scarcer work from neighboring Jaisalmer,
where important Jain temples are located within
the Jaisalmer Fort complex - a signi cant center
of Jain activity.
For a general discussion of paintings from
Marwar, see R. Crill, Marwar Painting: A History of
the Jodhpur Style, Mumbai, 2000.
$ 4,000-6,000
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