Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, two sakhis on a fenced terrace below, within yellow bordered medallion and frame, with simplified floral and scrolling patterned spandrels, in black rules, with pink speckled borders, a line of black devanagari script above ‘radhika ko prachann guru mana’ (Radhika’s secret state of heavy separation), folio number '193' in upper left corner, the reverse with 12ll. of verse in red and black devanagari script, with protective stamped and numbered flyleaf
Painting 10³⁄₈ x 6³⁄₄in. (26.4 x 17.3cm.); folio 12⁷⁄₈ x 9¹⁄₄in. (32.8 x 23.5cm.)

Mandi Royal Collection

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Lot Essay

The reverse is inscribed with a couplet from the Rasikapriya of Keshav Das. “Forgetting his quarrel with Radha, Krishna met her and revelled in the enchantment of her beauty, love and laughter. On seeing nail-marks on his person beneath his garment, she turned her gaze away, and her eyes drooped like a lotus flower at the sight of the moon.” (M.S. Randhawa, Kangra Paintings on Love, New Delhi, 1962, p.89)

Keshav Das, a Brahmin in Bundelkhand, was the court poet of Raja Madhukar Shah of Orchha. He wrote his famous love poem Rasikapriya in 1591 AD. The Rasikapriya seems to have been a favourite with Kangra patrons. Several nayaka - nayika paintings from Kangra depicting Krishna and Radha, the ideal lovers, are based on and inscribed with the texts of the Rasikapriya. The style of painting and the colours employed by Kangra artists for these depictions of love and longing manage to convincingly convey the richness and sweetness inherent in the lyrical texts of Keshav Das. (M.S. Randhawa, op.cit., pp.27-28).

There are fourteen comparable paintings from a Rasikapriya series in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. (W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Vol. I (text), no.66 (i-xiv), pp.305-307; Vol. II (plates), pp.228-230). Other illustrations from this series have sold recently in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lots 92, 94; 25 May 2017, lots 74-78. For illustrations from the series in the present sale, see lots 9, 28, 30, 67 and 69.