Page 81 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

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AN ILLUSTRATED FOLIO FROM A BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES: The principal artist at the court of Maharaja Sansar Chand of Kangra, Purkhu
THE WEDDING OF KRISHNA was the master of a large atelier. Although there are no known works signed
ATTRIBUTABLE TO PURKHU, KANGRA, PUNJAB HILLS, NORTH INDIA,
CIRCA 1800-15 by Purkhu, a number of extensive large-sized series have been associated
with him and his family, including several series of the Shiva Purana, the
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, within grey rules and red
Rasikapriya, the Gita Govinda and the Harivamsa.
margins, the reverse plain with later owner's inscriptions, with flyleaf attached,
framed
The profusion of architecture in the scene is typical of narrative scenes
Painting 14º x 19æin. (36.2 x 50cm.); folio 15º x 20Ωin. (38.7 x 52cm.)
ascribed to Purkhu. Goswamy and Fischer note that while the artist uses
£35,000-50,000 US$50,000-70,000 diagonals freely, they serve more as design elements rather than to provide a
€41,000-58,000 clear sense of spatial depth. A similar effect is displayed in a scene attributed
to him from a Sundar Shringar series (Goswamy and Fischer, op. cit., pp.371
This painting is closely related in size and in composition to one that was
and 382, no. 166). That scene, also set at night time employs a similar
formerly part of the Sven Gahlin collection sold at Sotheby’s, 6 October 2015,
contrast of the gold within the architecture and the costumes of the figures
lot 101. That painting, formerly attributed to Sajnu (active c.1790-1830), has
establishing a particularly atmospheric narrative against the dark ground.
since been re-attributed to Purkhu (active c. 1780-1820) on account of the
style and the inscriptions in white above the two figures in the lower right, For other paintings attributed to Purkhu and his workshop which have sold
which also figure on a number of paintings attributed to him in B.M Goswamy in these Rooms, see 2 May 2019, lot 117; 25 May 2017, lots 66, 67, 72; 10 June
and Eberhand Fischer, Pahari Masters, 1992, pp. 382-3, nos. 166-167. 2015, lots 69, 71; and 10 June 2013, lots 16, 19.
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