Attributed to a master of the first generation after Manaku, probably Fattu Pahari, Basohli or Guler, circa 1765
Illustration from the ‘Large Basohli Bhagavata Purana’ series, also known as the ‘Fifth Basohli Bhagavata Purana’
Provenance
The series, including the present painting, formerly the Property of Mrs F. K. Smith,
sold at Sotheby's, London, 1 February 1960, lots 1-63
This painting subsequently sold at Sotheby's, London, 17-18 June 1978, lot 150
P. & D. Colnaghi and Co., London, June 1979
This painting is from an important series known as the 'Large Basohli Bhagavata
Purana' or the 'Fifth Basohli Bhagavata Purana' series. Finely executed and in
remarkably good condition, it is important as a milestone in the development of
painting in the Pahari courts and as a key example of the work of the family of
Manaku and Nainsukh, sons of Seu, the leading family of artists in Guler and
Basohli in the 17th century. The series has been attributed to Fattu (c.1725-c.1785),
son of Manaku, nephew of Nainsukh, and shows influence from both of those
senior artists. One painting bears a possible date of 1769 (Binney Collection, San
Diego Museum of Art, see Goswamy and Smith 2006, no.93, pp.222-223), although
this has been disputed, and it is likely that the series as a whole took several years to
complete. The series was formerly in the collection of a Mrs F. K. Smith and was
dispersed at auction in 1960 (Sotheby's, London, Important Western and Oriental
Manuscripts and Miniatures, 1 February 1960, lots 1-93). Many are now in museum
collections including those of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Royal
Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, the Museum of
Fine Arts, Boston, Yale University Art Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the
Cleveland Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Rietberg Museum,
Zurich.
The series is discussed and illustrated as follows:
Archer and Binney 1968, nos.55a-b, pp.74-75
Archer 1973, vol.I, pp.49-51, vol.II, nos.22i-xiii, pp.36-39
Archer 1976, nos.8-10, pp.14-19
Leach 1995, vol.II, nos.11.50-11.54, pp.1048-1053
Mason 2001, no.80, p.188
Goswamy and Smith 2005, nos.92-93, pp.220-223
Goswamy and Fischer 2011b, pp. 687-699, nos.1a-1d