An illustration to a Ragamala series: Megha Raga, ascribed to the artist Shahji, India, Rajasthan, Mewar, dated VS 1806/1749 AD

VAT reduced rate

Estimate

5,000 - 7,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

gouache heightened with gold and silver on paper, the text panel above with four lines of gold devanagari on blue ground within a cusped cartouche, with a narrow blue border, black and white rules, red margins, the reverse with two lines of black devanagari including the date and the name of the artist

painting (including text panel): 22.5 by 16cm.

leaf: 23.6 by 18.3cm.

inscription (on reverse):

samvat 1806 duti bhadwa bid 13 bhomay / kalmi chitaro shahji - VS 1806 (1749 AD) month of Bhadon (fifth month of the Hindu lunar calendar day 13 / by the hand of the artist Shahji

The inscription above the painting references Raga Nata, which is one of the sons of Raga Megha. Raga Nata is often depicted as a prince wearing armour on horseback in combat with a soldier on foot.

Another painting by the artist Shahji, dated to circa 1740, depicting Thakur Sirdar Singh worshipping Shiva as a four-faced linga, is in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (B84D2). A further painting attributed to Shahji and dated to the 1740s, depicting Rao Ram Chandra of Bedla on a swing, formerly in the collection of Ralph and Catherine Benkaim, is in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. (acc. no.S2018.1.24).

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