Page 92 - 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 367

AN ILLUSTRATION TO A BHAGAVATA PUR ANA SERIES: AKRUR A TRAVELS TO HASTINAPUR A TO
MEET KUNTI, BIKANER, INDIA , CIRCA 1690-1710
Estimate: 20,000 - 30,000 USD

PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF H. PETER STERN
AN ILLUSTRATION TO A BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES: AKRURA TRAVELS TO HASTINAPURA TO MEET KUNTI
BIKANER, INDIA, CIRCA 1690-1710

Verso: inscribed in Devanagari “Akrura travels to Hastinapura. Akrura meets Kunti.”

Opaque watercolor on paper heightened with gold

image: 8 ⅝ by 12 ¼ in. (21.9 by 31.1 cm)

folio: 11 ⅝ by 14 ⅞ in. (29.5 by 37.8 cm)

Provenance
Acquired in the 1980s

Catalogue Note
This folio from a well-known Bhagavata Purana series depicts Akrura visiting Hastinapura at Krishna’s behest to meet Kunti and
inquire about the state of affairs at the Kuru court. On the left, Krishna seated with Balarama and Uddhava, gives instructions to
Akrura in a white marble walled palace - a chariot waiting outside. Distance and time are mapped using the river as a diagonal
device cutting across the center of the painting.

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