Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 152. An illustration to a Bhagavata Purana series: The Churning of the Ocean, by a Master of the First Generation after Manaku and Nainsukh, North India, Punjab Hills, circa 1780-1810.

An illustration to a Bhagavata Purana series: The Churning of the Ocean, by a Master of the First Generation after Manaku and Nainsukh, North India, Punjab Hills, circa 1780-1810

Auction Closed

October 27, 03:41 PM GMT

Estimate

80,000 - 120,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

gouache heightened with gold on paper, with narrow dark blue and gold borders, wide pink-speckled margins, the flyleaf inscribed with the numerals ''35'' in devanagari script 


painting: 23.7 by 31.6cm; leaf: 30.4 by 38.4cm.

Ex-collection Pearl King, London (1918-2015).
Bonhams London, 21 April 2015, lot 186.
The present painting illustrates an episode narrated in Book VIII of the Bhagavata Purana, cantos 6-9. Lord Indra, the king of the gods, offended the sage Durvasa whilst being in an inebriated condition. The furious Durvasa placed a curse upon Indra and the heavens. As a result, Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, disappeared from the abode of the gods and dissolved into an ocean of milk. Indra and the gods went to seek the help of Lord Vishnu. Indra is depicted on the right with folded hands standing in front of Vishnu, who is seated on his divine bird vehicle, Garuda. The gods were then sent to make a truce with the asuras (demons) without whose help the ocean could not be churned. Mount Meru, the mountain home of Brahma was used as a churning stick, Shiva’s snake Vasuki was used as the rope, and Vishnu took on his second avatar as Kurma (the turtle) to prevent the mountain from sinking. Shiva in his tiger skin and the multi-headed Brahma are depicted amongst the gods, debating with the demons, in the upper left section of the painting. The churning led to Lakshmi emerging with several treasures from the ocean, including amrita, the nectar of immortality.

This splendid painting has been attributed to a master artist from the first generation of the family workshop of Manaku and Nainsukh. Some of the most well-known series of paintings and individual works produced in the Pahari region between 1770 and 1810 have been attributed to artists from this family. For a list of known works, see Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, pp.689-694. Two folios from the same series as the present painting, related to the churning of the ocean, are in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin (acc. no.68.7 and 68.8; Leach 1995, Vol.II, 11.94, 11.95, p.1083). Fourteen folios depicting the story of Prahlada from this Bhagavata Purana series are in the Royal Collection (RCINS 925226-925241; Hannam 2018, pp.168-185. Two further folios, also formerly in the collection of Pearl King, depicting the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and Krishna in combat with Rukma, Rukmani’s brother, sold at Bonhams London, 21 April 2015, lots 185-6.