An officer walking with a dog and communing with a bird, attributed to Bhavanidas, Kishangarh, circa 1740

gouache with gold on paper, laid down on paper and ruled with gold, on the recto traces of an inscription in nast'aliq script on the painted background 'Kanwar (?) Quli'; and on the border 'Ganjdum or Kazhdum (?) Quli', on the verso, a drawing in pencil of two riders on horseback and an inscription in nast'aliq script 'Value of the painting: five rupees'

Acquired before 1968

Haidar 2000, p.82, fig.4
Haidar in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, p.533, no.29

In reasonably good overall condition, some paint losses and staining to edges of painting, loss to upper right corner of outer margins, as viewed.
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An officer with sword, shield and dagger, strides through a stormy landscape, holding a small bird aloft. He wears a pointed red turban and a green robe decorated with a distinctive tiger-stripe motif. The threatening sky contrasts with the comic posture of the officer, heightening the sense of the absurd, while the dog lends further humour as it jumps up enthusiastically, trying to reach the bird.

This arresting miniature belongs to a group of satirical and humorous paintings and drawings from Kishangarh, most of which are now attributed to the later style of Bhavanidas. An identical figure can be seen in a larger composition of the same type, also attributable to Bhavanidas, formerly in the Stuart Cary Welch Collection (see Sotheby's London, 31 May 2011, lot 19; see also Haidar 2000, p.81, fig.3). These eccentric works are discussed and attributed in Falk 1992; Haidar 2000; Haidar in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, pp.533-546;  see also Welch 1994.

For other works attributed to Bhavanidas in this catalogue see lots 31, 54, 55, and 56. For a brief biography of the artist see lot 31.