AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE MAKHANDEYA PURANA: THE CREATION OF DURGA
INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, MANDI, CIRCA 1780
£882
Auction: Indian Paintings from the Collection of William & Mildred Archer | Lots 84 to 152 | 12 June at 10am
Description
preparatory drawing, ink on paper, laid down on card, inscribed in takri
Dimensions
Folio: 19.2cm x 27cm (7½in x 10 6/8in).
Provenance
Acquired from Ishwari Prasad, 1948.
Ishwari Prasad is referred to in the Archers' biographical book, India Served and Observed, in Mildred Archer’s chapter on their time in Patna, the extract as follows:
‘Manuk [Archers' friend] employed an old man, Ishwari Prasad (born c.1870) and his son to mount and do minor repairs to his miniatures. Ishwari was descended from Fakir Chand Lal (c.1770-c.1865), a painter who had come to Patna from Murshidabad. I came to know him well. In his spotless and white dhoti and little round black hat, he would come to our bungalow and reminisce to me about his forebears….When Bill retired from the ICS in 1947 we purchased Ishwari’s private collection, all of which is now in the India Office Library and Victoria and Albert Museum.’