A NAYIKA AND HER SAKHI WITH A GREEN PARROT: A FOLIO FROM A RASIKAPRIYA MANUSCRIPT

Estimate

5,000 - 7,000 USD

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Description

A NAYIKA AND HER SAKHI WITH A GREEN PARROT: A FOLIO FROM A RASIKAPRIYA MANUSCRIPT
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper
image: 4 by 5 1/4 in. (10.1 by 12.7 cm)
folio: 6 1/4 by 7 1/2 (15.2 by 17.8 cm)

Provenance

Acquired 1994

Catalogue Note

A nayika (heroine) seated within a brilliant yellow chamber raises her finger in conversation with her sakhi (confidante) who gestures with pressed palms towards a green parrot. On a cinnabar-red carpet with floral motifs. The parrot is considered a vehicle and messenger of Kama the "God of Love" given the bird's capacity to imitate human speech and here may suggest Kama's presence in the midst of the conversation.

Several other folios from Aurangabad are known from dispersed Rasikapriya and Gita Govinda series' dated 1650; see Saryu Doshi, An Illustrated Manuscript from Aurangabad, Dated 1650, Lalit Kala, New Delhi, no. 15. Ours is a very fine example from Aurangabad, where the confluence of Deccani, Mughal and Rajasthani painting styles converged and is definable by its distinctive facial and figural types, decorative elements and color palette.

For a similar work, see E. Binney III, The Mughal and Deccani Schools, Portland, 1973, cat. 130.