The wedding of Krishna, illustration from a Bhagavata Purana series, attributable to Purkhu, Kangra, circa 1800-15

gouache heightened with gold on paper, principal characters identified in white devanagari script on the surface of the painting, framed

Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and 2nd Earl of Mornington (1760-1842)
Frederick H. North, London
Sir Howard Hodgkin, C.H., C.B.E., London (b.1932)
Acquired in 1965

In the Image of Man, Hayward Gallery, London, 1982 

London 1982-I, p.182, no.304
Gahlin 1991, p.84, under no.90, footnote 7

In good overall condition, colours vivid and gold bright, as viewed.
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The Bhagavata Purana series from which this miniature comes was formerly attributed to Sajnu (active c.1790-c.1830). Comparison with the style of Purkhu of Kangra (active c.1780-c.1820) and the inscriptions in white to be found on the surface of paintings attributed to him, make the attribution to Purkhu more likely (see Goswamy and Fischer 1992, pp.368-7, in particular two pages from a Shiva Purana series, pp.382-3, nos.166-7). The present painting is a particularly rich and atmospheric example. The artist has used gold extensively in the walls of the buildings, the figures' costumes and the musical instruments, to give a glittering effect that illuminates the night scene of the wedding, outshining the few candelabra and the thin crescent moon in the night sky and giving a romantic, jewel-like effect.

Purkhu of Kangra (active circa 1780-1820) was the leading artist at the court of Raja Sansar Chand (r.1775-1823). He painted a number of large court scenes of the Kangra rulers and princes as well as several large-scale series illustrating various Hindu texts such as the Shiva Purana, the Rasikapriya, the Gita Govinda and the Harivamsa.  Purkhu seems happiest when working in a large format and the series of manuscript illustrations attributed to him are among the largest in scale of the Pahari miniatures. For thorough discussions of his career and illustrations of his works see Goswamy and Fischer 1992, pp.368-387; Goswamy and Fischer in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, vol.II, pp.719-732.

The Bhagavata Purana, ‘The Ancient Story of God’, is a chronicle of Vishnu, the second member of the Hindu trinity, and of his avatars or incarnations. Books ten and eleven describe the career on earth of Krishna, his eighth incarnation.

For other pages from this Bhagavata Purana series, see Archer 1973 vol.I, p.118, nos.24 (i-ii), vol.II, p.87; Brand 1995, p.41, no.21; Gahlin 1991, pp.83-84, no.90, col.pl.95 (as attributed to Sajnu, Kangra, c.1800-05); Sotheby's, New York, 24 September 2004, lot 115.

Richard Colley Wesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley and 2nd Earl of Mornington, was Lord of the Treasury under the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, Governor-General of India from 1798 and 1805, ambassador to Spain during the Napoleonic Wars and British Foreign Secretary from 1809 to 1812. He was Arthur Wellesley The 1st Duke of Wellington's older brother.