AN ILLUSTRATION FROM THE "SHANGRI" RAMAYANA: THE MONKEY COURT

JAMMU (BAHU), CIRCA 1700-30

JAMMU (BAHU), CIRCA 1700-30
Opaque pigment on paper heightened with gold; verso numbered "106" in ink and inscribed in takri, "Kishkindha".
Image: 12 1/8 x 7 1/4 in. (30.8 x 18.4 cm);
Folio: 8 3/4 x 13 5/8 in. (22.2 x 34.6 cm)

In warm earthen tones, this painting most likely depicts Sugriva's coronation as the king of the Vanaras, the monkey race who helped Rama rescue Sita in exchange for installing Sugriva on the throne. On the back of the painting, the inscription reading "Kishkindha" refers to both the name of the monkey kingdom's court and the eponymous title of Book IV of the Ramayana, which contains this episode.

The painting is from the "Shangri" Ramayana, one of the most important narrative series from the Punjab Hills. This ambitious project, numbering around 270 folios, was produced by several artists over a few decades that Archer divided into four parts based on style and date. The present painting is produced in Archer's Style III (as are many of the folios from Book IV), which is distinguished by its paring down of extraneous elements in service of a clearer narrative. Other works in Style III and from Book IV are published in McInerney et al., Divine Pleasures, 2016, nos.58-60.

Provenance:
Mandi Royal Collection
Private European Collection acquired 1969
Rob Dean Art, London, November 2015