KRISHNA FLUTING IN THE FOREST, RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR, CIRCA 1720-40

Opaque watercolour and gold on paper

Rajput Painting, Asia House, New York, 1960
Indian Painting, 15th-19th Centuries, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1965
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 1969
The Art of India and Pakistan, Duke University, Durham; Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, 1985

Montgomery 1960, no.12, pl.23
Harvard 1965, no.31

In good overall condition, minor flecks of paint loss, particularly towards the top and bottom of the painting. There is a minor stain at the top of the work and a tiny tear with associated paint loss above Krishna's head. The corners are creased with minor rubbing, as viewed.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is an important and elegant miniature, depicting Krishna in an iconic, almost devotional manner, standing centrally in the forest glade playing his flute. One can almost hear the lyrical and haunting music emanating from his flute. The harmony of the scene is enhanced by the symmetricality of the composition.

Cary Welch had attributed this picture to Central India around 1700, and a note on the backboard of the frame suggests Ajmer, circa 1700. However, the style seems closest to Jaipur work of the second quarter of the 18th century, albeit rendered in a more spacious and open manner. A particlualry close comparison can be seen in a Jaipur illustration of Vasant Ragini, of the mid 18th century, depicting a similar figure of Krishna, shown full-frontal, holding a vina while standing under a tree with Radha and gopis, with a lotus-filled pool in the foreground and a tall, slim palm to the right (see sale in these rooms, 4 May 1977, lot 385). Many of the individual elements are very close to the present work, and further examination of Jaipur and Amber painting of the late 17th and early 18th century, especially Ragamala and Nayika illustrations, shows that the present work fits well into the development of this tradition. A Vishnu Avatara series executed at Amber circa 1720, in the British Library (Johnson Album, see Falk and Archer 1981, no.516) and a Jaipur Ragamala series of circa 1760 in the same collection (ibid, nos.517) are good examples. However, the spacious and iconic composition of the present work sets it apart as a more significant and unusual miniature.

Cary Welch's handwritten notes on the backboard of the frame are as follows:
"Krishna Fluting in the Wood - Central India, Malwa, c.1720
H[oward] H[odgkin] says Ajmer  - c.1700
Arca Palm  (Betel)" [with a drawing of the type of palm tree in this miniature]
"B G[oswamy] says about 1700"
"Does this illustrate the first verse of  the ... in the Bhagavat. Krishna's call to the Gopis".