Arts of the Islamic World & India

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 59. An illustration from the Harivamsa: Nikumbha assaults Krishna and Pradyumna with a mace, Attributed to the workshop of Purkhu, India, Kangra, circa 1820.

An illustration from the Harivamsa: Nikumbha assaults Krishna and Pradyumna with a mace, Attributed to the workshop of Purkhu, India, Kangra, circa 1820

VAT reduced rate

Auction Closed

October 25, 04:59 PM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 20,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

gouache heightened with gold on paper, minute identifying inscriptions in white devanagari script above the figures, with black and white rules and red borders, the reverse with folio number, the flyleaf with folio number and Mandi library stamp

painting: 32.6 by 43.1cm.

leaf: 37 by 47.2cm.

Acquired from the Royal Library of Mandi in 1969.
Ex-private collection, Germany.
Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2008, lot 210.

The demon Nikumbha charges out of his lair with his mace, seemingly impervious to the hail of arrows released at him by Krishna, Pradyumna and Arjuna. The demon then attacks and wounds Arjuna who is seated with Krishna on his mount, the bird Garuda, and surprises Pradyumna, who is on his chariot, from the rear.

The artist maintains the sense of rapid and continuous action in the scene by featuring the demon multiple times and in various poses in the same image. For other illustrations from the same series see Sotheby's New York, September 19, 2006, lots 16, 17 and 18.