Page 87 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

67
A YOGI IS OFFERED A GIFT
MUGHAL STYLE, PERHAPS AT BIKANER, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, CIRCA 1620
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, mounted within later red margins with
white and black rules, and a narrow yellow outer border, the reverse plain and with the
Bikaner inventory number 'am.12'
Painting 7¡ x 5qin. (19.5 x 13.8cm.); folio 9¬ x 7ºin. (24.5 x 18.3cm.)
£50,000-70,000 US$58,000-80,000
€57,000-80,000

PROVENANCE:
Inventory stamp of the Bikaner Royal Collection on the reverse
EXHIBITED:
Blumen - Bäume - Göttergärten - Indische Malerei aus sechs Jahrhunderten, Museum für
Völkerkunde, Hamburg, 17 March - 27 October 2013.
Indische Gärten/Gärten der Welt, Zürich, Museum Rietberg, 2016.
LITERATURE:
L.V. Habighorst, Blumen - Bäume - Göttergärten in indischen Miniaturen, Koblenz, 2011, fig.
69, pp. 95-98.
J.P. Losty, Indian Paintings from the Ludwig Habighorst Collection, Francesca Galloway,
London, 2018, no. 25.
A yogi seated beneath a fig tree accepts the gift of a golden dish from a young man,
bowing slightly in supplication. He is sat beside a fire and holds a stick in one hand, his
small white dog off to the side barking and snarling furiously at the visitor. From the brown
coat with collar of cloth strips, horn tied around his neck, a turban of patchwork cloth and
the large wooden earrings it would seem that the yogi belongs to the Nath sect, which
originated in the Deccan. His body is smeared with ash turning it a bluey grey.

The subject of this painting marks it as a rare and important work which is something of
a mystery (J.P. Losty, Indian Paintings from the Ludwig Habighorst Collection, Francesca
Galloway, London, 2018, p.86). The Hindu ascetic here is being visited by a Muslim,
suggested by the way in which his red jama is tied, who is presumably of some status
given his fine outfit and gold-hilted dagger. The subject of yogis and ascetics a popular one
during the late Akbari period and particularly into the reign of the Emperor Jahangir.
The landscape in which this scene unfolds is perhaps surprisingly simple given the care
that has gone into the figures and the tree. A stream flows in the foreground with a wading
bird rather sketchily painted to the left. An area of grass with flowers and bounded by rock
forms the centre of the composition behind which we see a crop of trees and the yellow
evening sky. This simplicity is indicative of if not being an imperial product. Nonetheless,
the fine rendering of the faces – almost appearing to be portraits – of the two characters
and their clothing suggests the work of a Mughal artist. J.P. Losty further suggests it to
be an artist working in the provinces, perhaps the Bikaner court in whose palace library
painting remained (Losty, op.cit., p.86).

84 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 85
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.