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Bhima kills Kichaka and his brothers, signed by Dhannu, Mughal, circa 1598-99
Description
- Ink and watercolour on paper
Provenance
Sam Fogg, London 1999
Francesca Galloway, London 2008
Sotheby’s, London, 7 October 2009, lot 44
Literature
New York 2008, pp.8-9, no.2
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The Razmnama is the abridged version of the Hindu epic poem the Mahabharata which tells the story of a rivalry between cousins, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, for the kingdom of Hastinpura. One of the central figures is the god Krishna, who assists the Pandava brothers. This vast work was translated into Persian at the request of Akbar in 1582-83 but the presentation manuscript with 168 paintings, now preserved in the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum in Jaipur, was not completed until 1586 (for illustrations of some of them see Das in Das et al. 1998, pp.52-66).
The current illustration comes from the second copy of the Razmnama that was finished in 1598-99, the final five parts and colophon of which are housed in the British Library. However, it is not merely a replica of the imperial prototype, as less than a fifth of its paintings, including the present scene, are represented in the Jaipur Razmnama.
This full page work, along with nine of the manuscript's other paintings, is by the artist Dhannu, a prolific painter of the imperial Mughal atelier of the period 1580-1605. His earliest works can be found in the Darabnama of circa 1580, and later in the Tarikh-i Khandan-i Timuriyya, the Jaipur Razmnama, the Victoria and Albert Museum Akbarnama, the Keir Collection Khamsa of Nizami, the Jaipur Ramayana, the British Library Baburnama, the National Museum of Delhi Baburnama, the 'Iyar-i Danish, the 1596 Chingiznama and the Akhlaq-i Nasiri. The most distinctive feature of Dhannu's painting style is his treatment of the faces which at times borders on caricature. In this instance many of the faces are finely drawn, particularly that of the wild-haired Bhima, whose expression, whilst effortlessly dispatching four brothers, verges on the nonchalant. The body of the dead Kichaka burns on a pyre in the foreground. For a detailed discussion of the 1598 Razmnama see Seyller 1985. This painting is additional to the nine other paintings by Dhannu listed there. For a listing of other works by Dhannu see Verma 1994, pp.132-5.