Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana: Krishna Slays the Yaksha Sankachuda Opaque watercolor on paper, North India, Circa 1525-40
54
Illustration to the Bhagavata Purana: Krishna Slays the Yaksha Sankachuda
Opaque watercolor on paper, North India, Circa 1520-1540
In the upper register within the green field the demon Sankhachuda is harassing a group of gopikas who rush to Krishna and his bother Balarama set against a read field. In the lower red register Krishna decapitates demon with his fists and then presents Shankhachuda's 'jewel' to Balarama and the overjoyed gopikas set on a green field.
image: 6 x 8 ½ in. (15 x 21.2 cm), folio: 7 x 9 1/8 in. (17 x 23 cm)
Sold for US$ 20,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • As noted by Milo Cleveland Beach, The Imperial Image: Paintings from the Mughal Court, Washington D. C.,1981, p. 48, "The bold colors, vigorous forms and inventive compositions bestow the narrative with an effectiveness that has an immediate impact". This page comes form the earliest known illustrated manuscript of Bhagavata Purana, and remains one of the most ambitious. It is estimated that the original series consisted of around 300 folios, of which some 200 are extant. For further discussion about the 'Masters of the Dispersed Bhagavata Purana' and the series see Daniel Ehnbom in Masters of Indian Painting: 1100-1650, 2011.

    For other illustrations see Stella Kramrisch, Painted Delight: Indian Paintings from Philadelphia Collections, Philadelphia,1986, pp. 5-6; Pratapaditya Pal, Pleasure Gardens of the Mind, Los Angeles, 1993, pp. 20-21. Also see Sotheby's New York, September 24, 2004, lot 105.

    Provenance:
    Private Collection
    Acquired from Doris Wiener in the 1980s

Category: Asian Art / Southeast Asian, Indian and Himalayan Art

Auction terms and conditions

Contacts

Edward Wilkinson Bonhams
Work
7601 W. Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, 90046
United States
Work +1 323 436 5430
FaxFax: + 323 850 5843
Specialist - Southeast Asian, Indian and Himalayan Art