A GAZELLE HUNT LED BY EUROPEANS IN A ROCKY LANDSCAPE ATTRIBUTED TO CHOKHA (ACTIVE, EARLY 19TH CENTURY)
INDIA, RAJASTHAN, DEVGARH OR MEWAR, CIRCA 1800
Estimate: £4,000 - £6,000
Auction: 11 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
gouache with some areas highlighted in gold on paper, black inner border with gold highlights, depicting leopards chasing gazelles up a hillside, one leopard chained on a cart drawn by oxen, a European huntsman on horseback with retainers on foot watching the scene in the background
Dimensions
Image: 7cm x 11cm; Folio 19cm x 23.5cm
Provenance
Private UK collection.
Footnote
The present minute image measuring a mere 7cm x 11cm is an extremely accomplished hunting scene, given the size. It is painted in the distinct style of the artist Chokha (active circa 1799-1826), the son of Devgarh artist Batra. The sketch-like quality reflects Chokha's early career and can be compared to the earliest known inscribed painting by him in the National Gallery of Victoria attributed to circa 1799 (see A. Topsfield, Paintings from Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria, 1980, no. 207). The sketching of the horse's head in our painting can be closely compared to the execution of the horses in the painting entitled ‘Wild Horses’, in the Harvard Art Museum (accession no. 1995.88).
There was great interaction between the Devgarh and Mewar schools of painting at this time. The Europeans in the background may have been visiting the Devgarh court where European maps and lithographs were available to the court artists. For further discussion about the artist Chokha and his father see M.C. Beach, Bagta and Chokha, Master Artists at Devgarh, Museum Rietberg Zurich, 2005.