Lot 122
TWO MEN CONVERSING, A LADY AT A WINDOW BEYOND A LAKE
INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, NURPUR, CIRCA 1800
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
gouache on paper heightened in gold, two men sit on a red mat in conversation one wearing yellow robes and turban and the other wearing mauve robes and turban, both are adorned with gold, the terrace overlooks a lake with a jewelled courtesan looking out from a palace window, blue and red borders with dark blue margin lines, mounted, glazed and framed
Dimensions
sight seen 25.9cm x 18.4cm
Provenance
Waddington and Tooth Galleries Ltd, 2 Cork Street, London, W1X 1PA, Late 1970s.
Formerly, in a private UK collection.
Arthur Tooth & Sons merged with Leslie Waddington in November 1976 to form Waddington and Tooth Galleries. They operated out of Cork street until autumn 1978 when the partnership dissolved. In Summer 1977 they held a landmark exhibition simply called Indian paintings.
Footnote
The harmonious composition and style are reminiscent of the artist, Nainsukh, and his school. For a painting by Nainsukh in the Met Museum with the same coloured stripy carpet in the foreground, see object number 2022.247.147. The subject of two men conversing on a stripy carpet is a popular theme throughout the Punjab Hills. For further examples, see W. G. Archer, Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills, Oxford University Press, 1973, Vol 2, p.44, Vol 1, p. 61, p. 164, p. 210 and p. 401.