A SAGE WITH A TIGER, CHEETAH AND A BLACKBUCK AND DOE, PAHARI, CIRCA 1700

This is an unusual and highly original painting. Its style is generally that of the early Pahari schools, but its exact origin is enigmatic. A portrait of Mian Dhruv Dev of Jasrota, painted at Basohli circa 1720, has facial features that relate to the present work (see Sharma 1974, cat.80, p.28, pl.93). A figure of a watchman in Unending Passion: The Ratipriya Heroine, an illustration from the 'early' or 'first' Basohli Rasamanjari series of circa 1660-1670, has a slightly similar lined face and accentuated features (see Goswamy and Fischer 1992, no.16, p.51). There is something about the protruding lower lip which is suggestive of the Mankot style of circa 1700 - a portrait drawing of a seated ruler (possibly Kirat Singh of Kashtwar), attributed to Mankot, has a similar linear quality and eye, nose and mouth to the present example (see sale in these rooms, 12 December 1972, lot 157). The caricatural nature of the image can be seen in a painting of Three Gaddis, attributed to Chamba circa 1730, formerly in the Edwin Binney Collection (see Binney 1968, no.81, p.107; Welch 1973, no.39, p.72), in which the central figure has a slightly similar nose and mouth to the sage in the present work. Related depictions of tigers appear in a painting of The Great Goddess Enthroned, Basohli, fourth quarter of the 17th century (see Goswamy 1986, no.127, p.169) and a Bilaspur Ragamala painting of circa 1730 (see Bautze 1991, no.49, p.130), while a large scene of Sages in a Forest, attributed by Archer to Chamba circa 1730, shows a group of animals, including a tiger, a leopard and a blackbuck, portrayed in a very similar manner to the present examples (Archer 1973, vol.2, p.54, no.12). The theme of the Chamba picture is also loosely related to that of the present work, although the figures lack the almost caricatural facial elements of this sage.

Cary Welch discerned elements reminiscent of Deccani work, and attributed it to a Deccani (Golconda) artist who had found work at Basholi in the Punjab Hills. The artist's use of shading to illustrate the texture of the sage's skin and the detailed rendering of his whiskers is reminiscent of Deccani work, and the elongated body and distinctive sinewy claws of the tiger and cheetah relate to a tiger depicted in a late 17th century Northern Deccan miniature of a Huntress on Horseback (see Zebrowski 1983, p. 233; Losty 2010, no.51, pp.124-125). Welch notes on the backboard that the paper might be of Deccani origin.

Cary Welch's handwritten notes on the backboard of the frame are as follows:

"A Holy Man, Master of Animals, Punjab Hills, Basohli, ca. 1675.
Is he a Muslim?
Master of animals, bull-necked, his baton conducts the tiger's stripes and panther's spots; while the buck and doe look round and up, and nudge, and sweeten the air - and his red chappals. April 10 1980.
Distant "echo" of Rustam's tiger stripes in tigers -
Related to v early Kishangarh/Deccani picture of soldiers - both derive from same Deccani source -
Neeta suggests that this is Deccani paper - (unprompted by SCW, June 2000)