Bonhams 1793 : An illustration to a Gita Govinda series: Saraswati on Hamsa Mewar style in the Deccan, circa 1650

Mewar style in the Deccan, circa 1650
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; the goddess is dressed in a gold floral skirt, holds a blue vina and rides her white swan while writing on a tablet with a female chauri bearer attending, set against a green background, river, and narrow blue sky.
Folio: 7 3/4 x 6 3/8 in. (18.4 x 16.2 cm); Image: 6 x 5 3/8 in. (15 x 13.7 cm)

Sold for US$ 18,750 inc. premium

Footnotes

The white color of the swan is also the symbol of excellence. In Hindu mythology, her vehicle, the white colored Hamsa, lives in the Manasarovar Lake near the Kailash Mountain. The bird is mute and its diet consists of pearls.

For a full discussion on this series, see Andrew Topsfield, "A Dispersed Gita Govinda in the Mewar-Deccani style", in C. Bautze-Picron (ed.), Makaranda: Essays in honor of Dr. James C. Harle, Delhi, 1990, fig. 4. For others from the same set see: George Hellyer, ed., Indian Miniature Painting from West Coast Private Collections, no. 57; R.E. Lewis, Exhibition Catalogue, November 1976, no. 1; Sotheby's, December 12, 1972, lot 47; Krannert Museum, Art of India and Southeast Asia, Chicago, 1964, pl. 85; Sotheby's, London, July 11, 1973, lot 54; Edwin Binney, Mughal and Deccan Painting, Portland, 1973, no. 130 (gives history of set); Ehnbohm, Ehrenfeld Collection, New York, 1985, no. 40; Linda York Leach, Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1986, no. 54.

Exhibited:
Art of The Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections, University of California, Los Angeles, March, 1968

Published:
J. LeRoy Davidson, Art of The Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections, 1968, no. 113, p.78.

Provenance:
R.E. Lewis, San Francisco, 1962
Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Los Angeles
Christopher Farr Gallery, Los Angeles, 2006
Private American collection