Illustration to a Rasikapriya Series: A Nayika Composes a Letter to her Lover
India (Kangra, Punjab Hills), ca. 1830
Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper
25 cm high, 19 cm wide (42 cm x 36 cm including frame)
25 cm high, 19 cm wide (42 cm x 36 cm including frame)
A4296
Provenance: Purchased from a UK gallery in 2015.
A maiden is seated against an orange bolster in a pavilion, composing a letter to her lover. She is dressed in white with gold embroidery, ornamented with pearls, gems, and henna. Her attendant, dressed in green, takes a pause in fanning her mistress and leans over a balcony to offer advice. The scene is framed by a white marble arch.
A very similar Pahari painting of a maiden writing a love letter is in the National Museum of India, New Delhi (accession no. 49.10/37), dating to the 18th century. The composition of a maiden leaning against a bolster while her attendant leans over the balcony is very similar, and it is also framed by an arch. A painting depicting a different nayika, though with similar figures framed within an arch, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 58.1.2). It was made in Kangra, Punjab Hills, in ca. 1800.
A maiden is seated against an orange bolster in a pavilion, composing a letter to her lover. She is dressed in white with gold embroidery, ornamented with pearls, gems, and henna. Her attendant, dressed in green, takes a pause in fanning her mistress and leans over a balcony to offer advice. The scene is framed by a white marble arch.
A very similar Pahari painting of a maiden writing a love letter is in the National Museum of India, New Delhi (accession no. 49.10/37), dating to the 18th century. The composition of a maiden leaning against a bolster while her attendant leans over the balcony is very similar, and it is also framed by an arch. A painting depicting a different nayika, though with similar figures framed within an arch, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 58.1.2). It was made in Kangra, Punjab Hills, in ca. 1800.
Provenance: Purchased from a UK gallery in 2015.
The maiden is seated in a pavilion and rests against a brightly coloured orange and green bolster composing a love letter. She is elaborately dressed with pearls and gold jewellery; her dress and veil are finely painted with details of gold patterns on her white dress. Her attendant is garbed in a green and gold dress and leans in from the window holding a pale yellow fan for the maiden. The miniature is framed with white and yellow alternating flowers on a dark blue border with orange stripes. See a similar Rasikapriya work in Dehejia, Rasikapriya. Ritikavya of Keshavdas in Ateleirs of Love, DK Printworld, 2013, p. 187, pl. 5.14.
The maiden is seated in a pavilion and rests against a brightly coloured orange and green bolster composing a love letter. She is elaborately dressed with pearls and gold jewellery; her dress and veil are finely painted with details of gold patterns on her white dress. Her attendant is garbed in a green and gold dress and leans in from the window holding a pale yellow fan for the maiden. The miniature is framed with white and yellow alternating flowers on a dark blue border with orange stripes. See a similar Rasikapriya work in Dehejia, Rasikapriya. Ritikavya of Keshavdas in Ateleirs of Love, DK Printworld, 2013, p. 187, pl. 5.14.