Hanging cotton with gold leaf and pigment India, Deccan

A gold leaf and painted cotton temple hanging depicting two tiers of columnar niches, the upper tier with Krishna in the central niche and three female musicians and attendants on either side, the lower with a stylized flowering plant on which sits a bird, flanked by similar figures, the whole surrounded by a foliate border.

Spink and Son Ltd, London, acquired 1997

Fairly good condition. The paint is rubbed and cracked in many places especially on the faces of the figures and on the outer border. No restoration.
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These beautifully drawn female figures, each with a different costume and bearing various instruments and offerings, are the gopis, or milkmaids, charmed by Krishna depicted in a characteristic dance pose playing his enchanted flute. This may be a Pichavai, a hanging suspended behind the statue in a shrine, but its rectangular shape suggests that it was used as a wall hanging. Compare the painting style to an example published in R. Barnes, S. Cohen and R. Crill, Trade Temple & Court: Indian Textiles from the Tapi Collection, India, 2003, pp. 210-213, fig. 87.