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Painting

ca. 1660 - ca. 1670 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Basohli (made)

This is one of a series of paintings illustrating the Rasamanjari or ‘blossom-cluster of delight’ by the poet Bhanudatta, which describes and classifies the behaviour of lovers. In this series the hero and heroine are shown in idealised form as the Hindu god Krishna and Radha, the love of his youth. Here Krishna arrives while Radha is still dressing. A verse from the poem on the back of this painting explains that, wishing to fly to see his face, her heart grows wings like lotus leaves. This series of paintings is one of the earliest painted in a distinctly Pahari manner - a style of painting particular to the Punjab Hills of northern India. Applied iridescent beetle wing fragments have been used to suggest jewellery.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Paintings
Hinduism
Religion
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
SCRAN
Object type
Painting
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Paper
Paint
Painted
Brief description
Painting, Rasamajari illustration, Krishna arrives while Radha is dressing, opaque watercolour on paper, Basohli, ca. 1660-1670
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, Radha's toilet is disrupted with the early arrival of Krishna who is reprimanded by the maid. Radha wears a dark red and blue skirt and covers her upper body with a pair of large lotus-leaves. Krishna in a deep yellow dhoti carries a lotus flower with a long stalk. Orange background.
Dimensions
  • Without border height: 175mm
  • Without border width: 255mm
  • With border height: 232mm
  • With border width: 322mm
Yellow border with silver margins, white rules and shaded surround.
Content description
Radha's toilet is disrupted with the early arrival of Krishna who is reprimanded by the maid.
Style
Basohli
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'sangara vipralabdha' (written in Takri at top of object)
    Translation
    'annoyance because of her toilet'
  • (handwritten on object in Takri)
    Transliteration
    '121'
  • [verse from the Rasamanjari] (written in Sanskrit on reverse of object; translation by Randhawa and Bhambri (1967))
    Translation
    'The lotus-eyed maiden is desirous of watching your foot-path. With the appearance of new clouds, her heart goes to her throat as if to choke it. Wishing to fly away to see your moon-like face, her heart grows wings in the form of lotus-leaves. What else shall I say?'
Gallery label
KRISHNA ARRIVES WHILE RADHA IS STILL DRESSING Opaque watercolour and gold on paper with applied beetle-wing fragments Basohli, Punjab Hills c.1660-1670 IS 52-1953 From the collection of Sir William Rothenstein From a series of paintings illustrating the Rasamanjari or ‘blossom-cluster of delight’ by the poet Bhanudatta, which describes and classifies the behaviour of lovers. In this series the hero and heroine are shown in idealised form as the god Krishna and Radha, the love of his youth. A verse from the poem on the back of this painting explains that, wishing to fly to see his face, her heart grows wings like lotus leaves. This series of paintings is one of the earliest painted in a distinctly Pahari (‘Hill’) manner.(2000)
Object history
From the collection of Mr. Michael Rothenstein; IS.46 to 73-1953 were purchased for £300.
Production
Archer (1973) attributes paintings of this series to Basohli. Goswamy and Fischer (1992) call this into question.
Subjects depicted
Woman
Servant
Deities
Radha
Krishna
Summary
This is one of a series of paintings illustrating the Rasamanjari or ‘blossom-cluster of delight’ by the poet Bhanudatta, which describes and classifies the behaviour of lovers. In this series the hero and heroine are shown in idealised form as the Hindu god Krishna and Radha, the love of his youth. Here Krishna arrives while Radha is still dressing. A verse from the poem on the back of this painting explains that, wishing to fly to see his face, her heart grows wings like lotus leaves. This series of paintings is one of the earliest painted in a distinctly Pahari manner - a style of painting particular to the Punjab Hills of northern India. Applied iridescent beetle wing fragments have been used to suggest jewellery.
Bibliographic references
  • Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills : a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting / by W. G. Archer ; foreword by Sherman E. Lee. London :Delhi: Sotheby Parke Bernet ;Oxford University Press, 1973 Number: 0856670022 pp.37-38, cat. no. 4 xiii
  • For information on the series which this painting is from, see: GOSWAMY, B.N. and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters, Artibus Asiae Publishers Supplementum XXXVIII and Museum Rietberg, Zürich, 1992, pp.30-35, and 46-57
  • Khanna, Balraj; Krishna: The Divine Lover, South Bank Centre, London 1997, ISBN 1 85332 166 4 cat. no. 12
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.52-1953

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Record createdJuly 20, 2000
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O41817/painting-unknown/
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