Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 222
Bhai Bala recites the story of Guru Nanak to devotees and onlookers, an illustration from a Janamsakhi manuscript Provincial Mughal, late 18th Century
26 October 2020, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,040 inc. premium
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Bhai Bala recites the story of Guru Nanak to devotees and onlookers, an illustration from a Janamsakhi manuscript
Provincial Mughal, late 18th Century
Provincial Mughal, late 18th Century
gouache and gold on paper, dull red and black margin rules, plain border
245 x 210 mm.
245 x 210 mm.
Footnotes
Comparison with other versions of this scene (see Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Kapany Collection, object no. 1998.58.1) indicates that the scene depicted here is from an episode in connection with creation of one of the textual traditions relating to the life of Guru Nanak (1469-1539). His encounters in distant lands, conducted over several journeys spanning several decades, were memorialised and embellished in several biographical texts known as Janamsakhis. This painting would have been commissioned to illustrate a Janamsakhi from the Bhai Bala textual tradition. The were the most popular of the life stories because of the claim that they come from first-hand accounts of Guru Nanak's life: Bhai Bala was said to have accompanied his master on his travels and later recited them to Guru Angad (1504-1552), Nanak's successor as the spiritual leader of the Sikhs. Here, Bhai Bala faces Guru Angad, who sits on a low chair. A woman observes the scene from a doorway while nearby a man pays his respects to the Guru.