An Illustration from the Ramayana: The Birth of Rama

The illustration depicting a midwife cradling the infant Rama while his mother Kaushalya lies exhausted on the floor following the labor of childbirth. A diminutive image of Vishnu is pictured above the bed as an indicator of the divinity of the newborn infant. Outside, Dasaratha sits in consultation with sages who are predicting the child's illustrious future.

Fairly good overall condition. Abrasions to pigment on blue sky above, green ground at centre, white architectural elements at the top corners. Two areas of tear to paper - one down the right adjacent to the border edge and one area in the salmon coloured ground at the upper right have been repaired.
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Painting at Isarda, a Rajasthani principality located about eighty miles southeast of Jaipur, began to flourish in the late 17th century when Mughal dominance in the region was in decline. The local Rajawat rulers appropriated the customs and manners of the Mughal court but retained a deep allegiance to the rulers of Jaipur who were their kinsmen. Paintings produced under their patronage therefore display an amalgam of both styles.

The present lot is from a large Ramayana album that was produced at Isarda during the late 17th century. The principal artist at Isarda during this time was a painter named Wajid, and certain stylistic elements in the painting, namely the facial types and compositional devices such as the cluster of women seated at lower left, are closely associated with him and his school.