Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 185
A folio from the Devi Mahatmya, part of the Markandeya Purana: Vishnu sleeping on the sea-serpent on the face of the waters, Brahma seated on the lotus rising from his navel, the demons Madhu and Kaitabha about to attack Pahari, probably Basohli, early 19th Century
6 October 2015, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£4,000 - £6,000
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A folio from the Devi Mahatmya, part of the Markandeya Purana: Vishnu sleeping on the sea-serpent on the face of the waters, Brahma seated on the lotus rising from his navel, the demons Madhu and Kaitabha about to attack
Pahari, probably Basohli, early 19th Century
Pahari, probably Basohli, early 19th Century
gouache and gold on paper, red border, cover sheet with 17 lines of text with verses relating to the scene in nagari script in black ink within yellow and red borders, stamp of the Royal Library of Mandi
262 x 365 mm.
262 x 365 mm.
Footnotes
The scene depicts the moment when the two demons Madhu and Kaitabha, born of the 'impurities of Vishnu's ears', begin to threaten Brahma. Brahma persuades the spirit of the eternal sleep which grips Vishnu to leave him and so defend against the demons: however, the ensuing battle lasts for five thousand years, such is the demons' strength. For a depiction of this battle, done in Jodhpur in the 19th Century, see B. N. Goswamy, Essence of Indian Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco 1986, p. 156, no. 114; and the sale in these rooms of an example from Guler, Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 7th October 2014, lot 366.