ARTS OF INDIA
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81 A SUMMER LOTUS PICCHVAI RAJASTHAN, NORTH INDIA, EARLY 20TH CENTURY Opaque pigments heightened with gold on cotton, of rectangular form, Krishna and Radha standing on a lotus rising from a pond, he embraces her, they gaze at each other lovingly, amidst a dense ground of lotus leaves and fowers, bees fying in between, the borders with a foral garland 77º x 95Ωin. (196.3 x 242.6cm.) £25,000-35,000 $36,000-50,000 €32,000-44,000 Lotus Picchvais are used in temples during summer months to create a cool atmosphere in the shrine of Shri Nathji. The backgrounds of lotus fowers help devotees to visualise the banks of the river Yamuna where Krishna grew up. For an illustration of two devotees worshipping Shri Nathji standing in front of a lotus picchvai, see Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Gates of the Lord, The Tradition of Krishna Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Chicago, 2015, fg.1, p.96. Another was in the Gujral Collection, Germany and is published in Landscapes of the Gods, Picchvais and Miniatures from the Gujral and other Private Collections, Prahlad Bubbar, 2013, cat.8. With its meandering lotus stems and the numerous bees fying from fowers to leaves, the present painting recalls the works of the ashtachap poets in which Krishna is compared to a bee and his beloved gopis to lotuses. In the 18th century, it seems that lotus picchvais were block-printed and that painted examples appeared in the 1800s. For a similar picchvai, although with Gokulchandramaji, see Ghose, op.cit., cat.38, p.98. 54
82 A RARE PILGRIMAGE MAP OF VRAJ AND THE YAMUNA RIVER (VRAJ YATRA) RAJASTHAN, NORTH INDIA, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY Opaque pigments on cotton, fnely painted, the river forming a large bend, numerous shrines and villages scattered in a green landscape, Krishna and his companions shown in various places, with foral borders 100 x 94Ωin. (244 x 240cm.) £30,000-40,000 $43,000-57,000 €38,000-50,000 The present piece is a rare cartographic view of the pilgrimage landscape of Vraj, in the region of Mathura. It features the Yamuna river and the sacred sites associated with episodes of the life of Krishna. It is flled with small depictions of actions related to Krishna’s feats (lilas). Devotees can connect with each lila story mentally through this painted hanging. The pilgrimage route is undertaken in a clockwise manner, passing through 12 forests and 12 groves as well as mount Govardhan (the bluish rocky mount in the centre of the painting). Mathura is the city which lies in the bend of the river. Two closely related maps of Vraj are in the Tapi Collection in Surat (06.97; Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Gates of the Lord, The Tradition of Krishna Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Chicago, 2015, fg.3, p.40) and in the National Museum, Delhi respectively dated late 19th and 19th century. Another map, showing the image of Shri Nathji in its centre, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 October 2001, lot 198. A monumental map of pilgrim sites along the Ganges sold at Christie’s South Kensington, 12 June 2014, lot 196. 55
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82<br />
A RARE PILGRIMAGE MAP <strong>OF</strong> VRAJ AND THE YAMUNA RIVER<br />
(VRAJ YATRA)<br />
RAJASTHAN, NORTH <strong>INDIA</strong>, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY<br />
Opaque pigments on cotton, fnely painted, the river forming a large bend,<br />
numerous shrines and villages scattered in a green landscape, Krishna and his<br />
companions shown in various places, with foral borders<br />
100 x 94Ωin. (244 x 240cm.)<br />
£30,000-40,000 $43,000-57,000<br />
€38,000-50,000<br />
The present piece is a rare cartographic view of the pilgrimage landscape of<br />
Vraj, in the region of Mathura. It features the Yamuna river and the sacred<br />
sites associated with episodes of the life of Krishna. It is flled with small<br />
depictions of actions related to Krishna’s feats (lilas). Devotees can connect<br />
with each lila story mentally through this painted hanging. The pilgrimage<br />
route is undertaken in a clockwise manner, passing through 12 forests<br />
and 12 groves as well as mount Govardhan (the bluish rocky mount in the<br />
centre of the painting). Mathura is the city which lies in the bend of the river.<br />
Two closely related maps of Vraj are in the Tapi Collection in Surat (06.97;<br />
Madhuvanti Ghose (ed.), Gates of the Lord, The Tradition of Krishna Paintings,<br />
exhibition catalogue, Chicago, 2015, fg.3, p.40) and in the National Museum,<br />
Delhi respectively dated late 19th and 19th century. Another map, showing<br />
the image of Shri Nathji in its centre, sold at Christie’s New York, 17 October<br />
2001, lot 198. A monumental map of pilgrim sites along the Ganges sold at<br />
Christie’s South Kensington, 12 June 2014, lot 196.<br />
55
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