An illustration to a Baramasa series: The month of Pausa, School of Sajnu, North India, Punjab Hills, Mandi, circa 1808-10

This fine painting belongs to a series of illustrations depicting the text of the Baramasa (songs of the seasons, or twelve months) by the sixteenth century poet of Brajbhasha, Keshavdas. The month of Pausa in the Hindu calendar corresponds with the months of December-January. A large blue and orange shawl is wrapped around a princely couple who are seated close to each other, trying to keep warm on a wintry day. The lady holds on to a hookah pipe while the prince reaches for a paan being offered by an attendant. The large window behind them offers a view of snow-capped hills in the far distance. Two cowherds sit huddled around a fire near a river in the rolling countryside with their cows grazing close by.

Several features of the painting such as the delicate rendering of the figures, bright textiles against the pale architecture, the oval format of the scene and the floral spandrels, are reminiscent of the style of the Pahari artist, Sajnu. Sajnu probably arrived at the court of Raja Isvari Sen of Mandi (r.1788-1826) between 1805, the year Isvari Sen returned to Mandi after being abducted by Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra, and 1808, when three dated works were presented by Sajnu to Isvari Sen. Sajnu is originally thought to be from Kangra but Archer suggested that his work exhibited a strong Guler influence (Archer 1973, Vol. I, p.352). The delicate smoothness observed in Sajnu’s manner of painting was a stark contrast to the provincial style previously associated with Mandi painting in the second half of the eighteenth century.

A closely comparable painting in the style of Sajnu, depicting the month of Pausa, and dated to circa 1808, is in the Chandigarh Museum (Archer 1973, Vol. I, no.44, p.362; illus. in Vol. II, p.274). For another painting in the style of Sajnu, dated to circa 1810-20, depicting Shiva and Parvati being worshipped within a similar scalloped oval frame, see ibid., Vol. II, no.47, p.276. A folio from a Rasikapriya series attributed to Sajnu, depicting Radha and Krishna, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 16 March 2016, lot 831.