Page 50 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAMAYANA SERIES A PAIR OF BRASS FIGURES OF RAMA AND LAKSHMANA
MEWAR, 1700-1710 ORISSA, CIRCA 16TH CENTURY
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; numbered ‘58’ from Book III of 10 in. (25.4 cm) high, the taller;
the Tulsi Ramayan. 9 3/8 in. (23.8 cm) high, the shorter
Folio: 10 5/8 x 16 3/4 in. (27 x 42.5 cm)
$8,000 - 12,000
$10,000 - 15,000
The divine brothers Rama and Lakshmana are depicted as heroic
Utterly despondent at the task of banishing his favored son and heir figures, standing with their raised arms holding (now lost) bows and ar-
ahead of him, King Dasharatha awaits the arrival of Rama and his rows separately cast. Their fingers are decked with rings and their hair
bother Lakshmana. Other folios from this vast Ramayana series can is arranged into buns of finely chased strands. This pair of sculptures
be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2018.142) and the Cincin- was produced at a peak of later Orissan brass sculpture typified by
nati Art Museum (Walker & Smart, Pride of the Princes, Cincinnati, high abstraction, fulsome proportions, crisply chased details, and
1985, no.28). Another is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art heavy castings of glistening honey-colored brass.
(M86.345.3), formerly in the Paul Walter Collection (see P. Pal, The
Classical Tradition in Rajput Paintings, Los Angeles 1978, pp.100-1, A closely related sculpture of Radha was sold at Sotheby’s, New York,
no.27). Ten pages are in the Norton Simon Museum of Art, Pasadena. 19 March 2008, lot 295. Later c.17th-century examples such as a
Eleven more are in the Ducrot Collection (Ducrot, Four Centuries of Dancing Krishna in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.87.124),
Rajput Painting, Torino, 2009, pp.43-8, nos.ME 18-ME 28). A further highlight by contrast the higher craftsmanship of the current pair. The
page from this series is published in Hussein-Okada, Ramayana matching poses follow medieval iconographic prescriptions, with
by Valmiki: illustrated with Indian painting from the 16th to the 19th Lakshmana appearing slightly diminutive in size and posture relative to
century, Edition Diane de Selliers, 2011, p.29. And six were sold at his older brother Rama.
Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2012, lots 1205 & 1206, and 17 March
2014, lots 118-21. Provenance
Ex-Collection of Cavas Gobhai, Massachusetts, assembled 1960s-
Provenance 1980s
Private Collection, California

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