A group of folk drawings, North India, 17th-20th centuries

C: Rossi 1998, p. 172, no. 74
D: Rossi 1998, p. 196, no. 83

The drawings in this lot are as follows:

A: A huntsman (Rama with Hanuman?), ink on paper, North India, early 20th century
B: A camel feeding, probably Marwar or Malwa, 17th century or later. The male figure in this miniature bears a slight resemblance to those in the Pali Ragamala of 1623 and the associated Kathakalpataru of circa 1622, but the format and pigment tones are perhaps closer to Malwa examples of the late 17th century.
C: Two pages from the Ramayana: Rama pursues the golden deer while Ravana approaches Sita; Hanuman finds Sita in Ashoka Grove, Pahari, 18th century
D: Hanuman drawn with yantras, Rama's name and and other mantras, Rajasthan, 19th century. This devotional image of Hanuman would have been used as a visual tool for meditation. Created by a devotee rather than a professional artist, this image is a fragment of larger full-figured Hanuman (pataka). The five animal heads (panchamukhi) emanating from his head are representations of Vishnu's incarnations and his vehicle.  Representations of panchamukhi became popular in Rajasthan during the 18th century and were typically depicted with larger heads on either side of the monkey's face. In the present drawing, the name of Rama is used in repetition to form Hanuman's tongue, necklace and waistband. Cary Welch's handwritten notes on the backboard of the frame are as follows:"Fragment of a devotional image of hanuman (pataka), five headed and twelve-armed, drawn with meditation diagrams (yantras), Rama's name and other mantras, and other invocations, inscribed mostly in sanskrit"
E: Ganesh, North India, early 20th century