Paintings from the Ancestral Collections of the Maharajas of Bikaner "Deep in the Thar desert, behind endless waves of sand dunes, lies Bikaner, one of the most interesting centres of later Indian Art"; thus Hermann Goetz begins his seminal description of the city and its art (1). His wonderfully romantic verbal description of the site acknowledges that by 1950 Bikaner "has lost something of its forbidding situation". Today the city is certainly far more developed than it was when he visited, but it is still without an airport and therefore feels much more remote and unspoiled than many of the other Rajasthani capitals. The paintings in this selection exemplify a number of characteristic traits of Bikaner Paintings. The first two are very clearly in the Mughal idiom, the products of a workshop established during the reign of Raja Rai Singh (r.1571-1611), the first of his line to be a prominent general in the Mughal army; he was at the same time a documented collector of paintings and artists. The arrival and early history of the workshop is discussed by Goetz (2); Molly Aitken points out that these artists would have arrived from the Mughal court with their collection of cartoons (khaka) with which to create further paintings (3). A second major influence on the paintings of Bikaner was paintings from the Deccan, notably those from Bijapur. This has been documented in passing by many scholars, but it was Catherine Glynn who concentrated on it as a separate issue (4). Raja Rai Singh distinguished himself in the Mughal campaigns in the Deccan including the capture of Ahmedabad, and his successor Raja Sur Singh (r.1627-58), continued this involvement. Sur Singh's son, Raja Karan Singh (r.1631-1669) captured the extraordinary fortress of Daulatabad of which he became governor, and also joined the 1636 siege of Bijapur. Maharaja Anup Singh (r.1669-98) served under Aurangzeb and ended up as governor of Aurangabad, the Mughal administrative capital of the Deccan. Maharaja Anup Singh is also renowned for his patronage of the arts, taking at least one of his court artists, Ruknuddin, with him to the Deccan (5). He also founded a library of Sanskrit manuscripts which he brought to Bikaner which still bears his name (6). Catherine Glynn analyses elements of Deccani landscape which appear in Bikaner painting; other authors have commented on the soft palette and the love of surface patterning. The most obvious example in this selection is lot 109, a clear Bikaner copy of a Bijapuri original composition. The preceding lot also shows clearly the direct influence of Deccani artists, in that case from Golconda, both in the faces which closely resemble those of Rahim Deccani (7), and in the niches filled with vases which are found on a depiction of the Darbar of Sultan 'Ali 'Adil Shah II (8). Such was the popularity of these niches with bottles that the entire 18th century interior of the Phool Mahal in the Fort Palace at Bikaner was decorated in this manner (9). This same interior shows a fascination not just with Deccani fashion, but also with European. In place of another shapely glass flask in the upper centre of each wall in the Phool Mahal is a moulded and painted European figure. The wooden ceiling beams in the same building are painted with European angels and other figures among clouds, frequently offering wine (10). These characterisations of decadent and distorted Europeans were popular in 18th century Rajasthan, appearing in a number of paintings that have been attributed to Mewar as well as in the Bikaner examples (11). Our two figures are fully a part of this tradition. The jester is a misunderstood version of a European print, an interpretation reinforced by the inscription on the back which records it depicting Krishna. The other figure, androgynous, with something that is a cross between a flute and an opium pipe, wears a sarpech in his flowing hair, as do the wine-pourers in the Phool Mahal interior. Bikaner painting is most immediately known for its delicate colouring, fine attention to finish and charming details. Typical are the series of paintings with ladies on a terrace, lots 74-77 in the sale. We have already discussed the Deccani origins of some of these features; the style that this fusion of influences had given rise to continued through the 18th century. The lyricism of the resultant paintings is in strong contrast to the lives of the rulers who at this time were involved in near-continuous battles with their neighbours in Rajasthan, notably the Rathores in Jodhpur. The school of miniature painting established at the court has long been identified. The royal family retained a very substantial collection, and it was carefully inventoried by HH. Maharaja Dr. Karni Singh of Bikaner whose library stamp and librarian's signature is found on the reverse of every painting including almost all in this group. In addition to the recent documentation to be found on the reverse of the paintings, most have earlier inscriptions, frequently giving the names of artists and dates as well as the subject. These records have been studied in some detail, and more recently collated with the state archives at Bikaner by Naval Krishna(12). These show a very long tradition of families of artists, some of whose descendants are still alive today, a continuity and level of documentation that is far more complete than in most other regional centres. The inscriptions are frequently reliable, the librarian recording that on that date the artist gave the painting to the palace. These records must however be treated with caution; some are clearly the additions of librarians who record events or attributions some time after they had taken place, with the result that some identifications and dates are clearly improbable. We have inserted all the names of the artists as they appear in the inscriptions. Some, like Murad (lot 104) are clearly exactly in the style we know to be his. Many others are those of artists for whose work this is the only recorded evidence. Naval Krishna has worked on some of the documents that remain in the Bikaner archives; it seems that there is scope for considerably more research further to define the developments of this fascinating centre of Rajasthani painting. We are grateful to Ush Bhatia for her reading of the inscriptions on these paintings. (1) Hermann Goetz, The Art and Architecture of Bikaner State, Oxford, 1950, p.17. (2) Goetz, op.cit., pp.97-98 (3) Molly Emma Aitken, 'The Laud Ragamala Album, Bikaner, and the Sociability of Subimperial Painting', Archives of Asian Art, https://www.academia.edu/8548841/The_Laud_Ragamala_Album_Bikaner_and_th e_Sociability_of_Subimperial_Painting, p.34. (4) Catherine Glynn, 'Bijapur Themes in Bikaner Painting', in Andrew Topsfield (ed.), Court Painting in Rajasthan, (Marg vol.51, no.3), Mumbai, 2000, pp.65-77. (5) A portrait of Aurangzeb in the Kanoria Collection clearly states that it was painted in Bhagnagar (Hyderabad) in 1687 (Vishaka N. Desai, Life at Court, Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th centuries, exhibition catalogue, Boston, 1985, no.29, pp.32-33). (6) K Madhava Krishna Sarma and Chittenjoor Kunhan Raja, Catalogue of the Anup Sanscrit Library, Bikaner, 2nd Ed., 1993. Anup Singh brought a number of Mughal artists to his court, and was also known to have collected Mughal, Persian, Turkish and Deccani manuscripts, as well as South Indian Bronze Sculpture, noted in Goetz, op.cit., p.47. (7) Mark Zebrowski, Deccani Painting, London, 1983, pls.175 and 176, p.204. (8) Navina Najat Haidar and Marika Sardar, Sultans of Deccan India 1500-1700, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2015, no.67, pp.148-9. (9) Goetz, op.cit., pl.39, p.155. (10) Mira Seth, Wall Paintings of Rajasthan, New Delhi, 2003, pl.238, p.178; also comparative illustration facing lot 112 in this catalogue (11) Milo Cleveland Beach, Catherine Glynn, Jagdish Mittal, John Seyller and Andrew Topsfield, Rajasthani Painting in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad, 2015, no.12, pp.36-39; also Molly Emma Aitken, The Intelligence of Tradition in Rajput Court Painting, New York, 2010, fig.2.13, p.78. (12) Naval Krishna, 'Bikaner', The Dictionary of Art, London, 1996, vol.XV, pp.608-09; also Naval Krishna, 'The Umarani Master-Painters of Bikaner and their Genealogy, in Andrew Topsfield, (ed.), Court Painting in Rajasthan, (Marg vol.51, no.3), Mumbai, 2000, pp.57-64 REGISTERED ANTIQUITY - NON-EXPORTABLE

Krishna taking Rukmani

INDIA, BIKANER, CIRCA 1590-1610

Details

Krishna taking Rukmani
India, Bikaner, circa 1590-1610
Krishna and Rukmani kneeling on a chariot drawn by rearing white and black horses led by two Rajputs, the blue-skinned Krishna wearing a yellow dhoti, shawl and golden tiara, holding the whip overhead, Rukmani in a saffron lengha, diaphanous odhni, and gold ornaments with swinging tassels, the horse with bared teeth and the warriors bearing swords and shields, within a dusky landscape with evening sky above, full peach margin with white inner rules, yellow outer border, the reverse with devanagri inscriptions, ownership stamp and librarian's signature
Opaque pigments and gold on paper
7¼ x 9 5/8 in. (18.5 x 24.5 cm.), painting
9½ x 12 in. (24.3 x 30 cm.), folio with frame

Provenance

Royal Collection of Bikaner (no. 618), before 11 June 1964

Engraved

The inscriptions on reverse in devanagri read
Rukmini he le chale A 116
16 Rukmini nu rath besare chaliya
(Taking away Rukmini A 116
16 Taking away Rukmini in a Chariot)

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Umah Jacob

ujacob@christies.com +91 22 2280 7905

Lot Essay

A devanagari verse on the back of the folio identifies the scene as belonging to the Srimad Bhagavata Purana - here called simply "Srim" to reflect its sacredness. The Bhagavata Purana is the chronicle of the avatars of Vishnu. Most often illustrated is Book 10 of the Bhagavata Purana, which narrates the life of the beloved god Krishna. In this episode, Krishna manifests himself to Rukmani, who falls hopelessly in love with him, and the two are wed. The heroine will soon learn that Krishna is merely the embodiment of lila, divine illusion, literally "play."

According to John Seyller, the present Bhagavata Purana series represents the process by which popular Mughal painting slowly germinated distinctive regional idioms. Attempts at imparting a three-dimensional quality are seen alongside figures that float against blocks of colour. While some of the garments are in the Mughal style, most of the figures retain the squarish heads and schematic faces of the indigenous tradition. A painting from the same series is in the Alvin O. Bellak Collection, (John Seyller in Darielle Mason et al., Intimate Worlds: Indian Paintings from the Alvin O. Bellak Collection, 2001, pp. 66-67, no. 18). Another three examples are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (Andrew Topsfield (ed.), In the Realm of Gods and Kings, Arts of India, London, 2004, nos.56-58, pp.146-151; https://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/37861? rpp=30&pg=1&ft=1978.535&pos=2). A further folio from the same series was sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 September 2008, lot 245. The attribution to Bikaner is examined in some detail and confirmed in a recent article by Molly Emma Aitken ('The Laud Album Ragamala, Bikaner, and the Sociability of Subimperial Painting', Archives of Asian Art , www.https://www.academia.edu/8548841/The_Laud_Ragamala_Album_Bi kaner_and_the_Sociability_of_Subimperial_Painting).

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