A scene from a Ramayana series (the 'Second' Guler Ramayana), depicting Vibhishana, younger brother of the demon king Ravana, together with a retinue of demons bearing gifts, in audience with Rama, the monkey army standing round about

Guler, circa 1790-1800

Footnotes

Provenance
Private collection, Germany.


This painting is an illustration from the series known as the 'second' Guler Ramayana, attributed to the first generation of artists after Manaku and Nainsukh. The first section of the series is referred to by W. G. Archer as the Kangra Ramayana series, and is dated circa 1775-1780 (and also as the 'Bharany' Ramayana). This comprises illustrations from the first three books of the Ramayana. Our painting belongs to the second section of the series, comprising illustrations from Books Five and Six, and specifically to Book Six, the Yuddhakanda or the Book of War. Goswamy and Fischer date this second section to circa 1790 and list known paintings belonging to it (M.C. Beach, E. Fischer, B.N. Goswamy (ed.), Masters of Indian Painting 1650-1900, Zurich, 2011, p. 690).

For other depictions of the figure of Vibhishana see, for example:
Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Works of Art, 21st March 2012, lot 210, depicting Vibhishana bowing before Rama, surrounded by the monkey and bear army, with the fortress of Lanka in the background).
In a quieter scene, depicting Sagara (personification of the ocean) appearing before Rama and others, see Sotheby's New York, Important Indian Miniatures from the Paul F. Walter Collection, 14th November 2002, lot 84.

Other examples from this series have appeared at auction: particular comparison can be made with the following:

Christie's, Arts of India, 12th June 2018, lot 26 (depicting Rama, Lakhshmana and Sita at the hermitage of Bharadvaja).
Bonhams, New York, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, 11th September 2012, lot 89 (Rama and Lakhshmana conferring with the monkey army while other monkeys are in combat with the demon army).
Sotheby's New York, Important Indian Paintings from the Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Collection, 22nd March 2002, lots 59 and 60 (Guler or Kangra, circa 1790; the trees and branches carried by the monkeys are prominent - hints of Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane - and the decoration on the demon chariots is very similar).
Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Works of Art, 20th March 2013, lot 319 (Rama and Lakhshmana wounded by the arrow of Indrajit).
Sotheby's New York, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, 19th September 1996, lot 185 (the monkey army beginning their assault on Lanka under the direction of Rama).
Sotheby's, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 23rd April 1997, lot 149 (Hanuman conducting a reconnaissance of the fortress of Lanka).
Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Fine Oriental Miniatures, Manuscripts, Islamic Works of Art, and 19th Century Paintings, 14th December 1979, lot 225 (there attributed to Garwhal, circa 1800).

Another painting from the series is in the LA County Museum of Art, illustrated in R. C. Craven, Ramayana: Pahari Paintings, Bombay 1990, pp. 98-99, fig. 8. Other pages are also found in the Mittal Collection, Shimla Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
For other pages from the this series see: B. N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, Delhi 1997, nos. 143-145, pp. 340-343; D. J. Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: the Ehrenfeld Collection, New York 1985, nos. 116-118; S. Kossak, Indian Court Painting, 16th-19th Century, New York 1997, no. 62.