BY KADAR BADIN, INDIA, BIKANER, DATED VS 1902/1845 AD

Details

Krishna on a rock with cows addressing a bird
By Kadar Badin, India, Bikaner, dated VS 1902/1845 AD
The blue-skinned Krishna seated on a rocky outcrop, clad in a yellow dhoti and shawl, his right hand outstretched clasping the golden flute and pointing towards a grey bird in a tree, his face encircled with a halo, two cows lower right, in a verdant landscape with a stream spanning the lower register and a sunset sky in the distance, lilac border betwen yellow bands and black rules, full pink margin with yellow outer border, the reverse with devanagri inscription and ownership stamps
Opaque pigments and gold on paper
7 7/8 x 5 5/8 in. (20 x 14.3 cm.), folio
11 1/8 x 7 7/8 in. (28.3 x 20 cm.), with frame

Provenance

Royal Collection of Bikaner (no. 2796), before 9 June 1964

Engraved

The inscription on the reverse in devanagri reads
sabi shri thakur ji shri hazoor kiye Holi kaam uste Kadar badin ro samvat 1802 miti chet vadi
(Portrait of Thakur ji presented to Hazoor (The Lord) on the day of Holi the work of artist Kadar Badin done on 1st Chaitra (April) 1745 AD)

Special Notice

Lots which are Art Treasures under the Art and Antiquities Act 1972 cannot be exported outside India. Please note that lots are marked as a convenience to you and we shall not be liable for any errors in, or failure to, mark any lot.

Brought to you by

Umah Jacob

ujacob@christies.com +91 22 2280 7905

Lot Essay

Krishna is the youthful deity associated with pastoral landscapes and lovers. In this image he has just ceased playing his emblematic flute, his melody having summoned a single bird that is perhaps a symbol of his estranged beloved. Krishna himself seems to await his gopi girls, who are absent from the scene except by artistic suggestion. This is a somewhat unusual image of Krishna, therefore, in which it is he rather than the girls who must await the sunset tryst in a verdant landscape away from society's gaze. Through Krishna's deeply sentimental face and outstretched arm, the artist has skillfully imbued the image with a sense of emotionalism and dynamism that lingers like the sound of the celestial melody.

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