AN ILLUSTRATION FROM THE MAHABHARATA, NALA AND DAMAYANTI: KING BHIMA PRESENTED WITH TWO STALLIONS ‡
INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, BILASPUR, SECOND HALF OF 18TH CENTURY
Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500
Auction: 11 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
gouache on paper, dark blue border, cover paper with five lines in gurumukhi text and the number ‘181’, depicting King Bhima, the father of Damayanti, receiving King Rituparna of Ayodha presenting two charioteers with their two stallions, courtiers kneeling at the side of the ruler, an attendant standing in the background waving a cauri
Dimensions
20.4cm x 27.9cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Spain.
Footnote
This delightful illustration to the Mahabharata, relating to the part devoted to Nala and Damayanti, depicts King Bhima inspecting the two charioteers Varshneya and Varukha not realising that Varukha is his daughter Damayanti in disguise.
For further discussion and comparison with eleven illustrations to a Nala Damayanti series in the Victoria and Albert Museum ( I.S. 265-1953 and I.S. 30-1954 to 39-1954) see W.G. Archer, Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Vol. I. pp. 240 - 241, no 43 ( i-xi) and Vol. II , pp. 184-187, no. 43 (i-xi). See also the San Diego Museum of Art, Accession Numbers 1190.1168-1170 from the collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd.