Lot 105
AN ILLUSTRATION TO A 'BOOK OF DREAMS'
INDIAN, RAJASTHAN, UDAIPUR, CIRCA 1720
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
gouache on paper heightened in gold, two lines of Devanagari script depicting a male blackbuck in the centre of the scene surrounded by a group of female blackbucks and fawns, in front of a banyan tree, yellow and red border with black margin lines, mounted glazed and framed
Dimensions
25.3cm x 21cm
Provenance
Tooth Paintings Ltd, 29 New Bond Street, (Second floor) London, W1Y 9AD.
Formerly, in a private UK collection.
Tooth Paintings Ltd was a renowned gallery specialising in Indian miniature paintings in London during the 1970s and 1980s.
Footnote
Created in Udaipur around 1720, the Mewari Sakunavali (Book of Omens) is an exceptional and renowned series of Indian miniature paintings. This collection was commissioned by the royal Mewar court to function as a visual manual for decoding dreams, signs, and portents, all based on the ancient Indian tradition of omen interpretation (Shakun Shastra).
In the Sakunavali, the blackbuck is an auspicious symbol ranked among the highest omens because of its deep ties to cosmic order and Vedic mythology. It is celebrated primarily as the sacred vehicle (vahana) of Chandra (the Moon God) and Vayu (the Wind God), with surviving folios depicting it swiftly pulling divine chariots across the night sky. In the context of dream and omen interpretation, witnessing a blackbuck signifies spiritual enlightenment, holy surroundings, and the rapid arrival of good fortune, deliberately shifting the animal's portrayal away from royal hunt prey and back into its sacred, revered origins.