Page 110 - 2020 Sept 22 Himalayin and Indian Works of Art Sotheby's NYC Asia Week

9/2/2020 Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art | Sotheby's

Indian, Hi ma layan & Southeast Asian Works of Art
New York |22 Sep 2020 | 12:00 PM EDT

Lot 380

AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE RAMAYANA : RAMA AIMS THE BRAHMASTRA AT THE OCEAN, INDIA ,
HINDUR, CIRCA 1830-40
Estimate: 15,000 - 20,000 USD

PROPERTY OF A WEST COAST COLLECTOR
AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE RAMAYANA: RAMA AIMS THE BRAHMASTRA AT THE OCEAN
INDIA, HINDUR, CIRCA 1830-40

Opaque watercolor on paper heightened with gold

image: 15 ⅞ by 20 ⅞ in. (40.3 by 53 cm)

folio: 11 ⅛ by 16 ¼ in. (28.3 by 41.3 cm), unframed

Provenance
Acquired from a California Estate, circa 2010

Catalogue Note
At the shores of the sea, Rama aims his bow with a crescent-tipped arrow - the dreaded Brahmastra, a weapon capable of
enormous destructive power - towards the ocean. In the nick of time he is beseeched to desist by Varuna, the God of the Sea,
holding his pasha (noose) accompanied by his consort Varuni holding her golden vessel of amrita (the elixir of immortality).

In this episode related in Valmiki’s Ramayana, and pictured faithfully in our painting, Rama has assembled his army of monkeys
and bears at the ocean's shore, across the strait from Lanka, home of the demon King Ravana who has abducted his beloved
Sita. He is accompanied by Lakshmana and the monkey general Sugriva who discuss strategy, as others wait massed at the shore

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