An illustration from the 'Shangri' Ramayana, Style II: Rama tells...

gouache heightened with gold and silver on paper, buff border, numbered in black takri in the upper border '16', further inscribed faintly in takri identifying the figures 'Sumitra Kaikeyi Kaushalya Raghu Lachman', verso inscribed in black devanagari with 'Ayodhya' at upper left
painting: 19 by 29.8cm.
leaf: 22.1 by 31.7cm.

Condition Report:
The edges and corners are scuffed with small losses to paper, the buff borders with some staining, some rubbing to inscriptions in upper border, the painting with minor discolouration, some rubbing to pigments, very minor pigment loss, the reverse with later number in ink, small areas of repairs visible along the edges and at corners, as viewed.

Catalogue Note:
This painting is an illustration from Book II, the Ayodhya Kanda, of the Ramayana. The three wives of King Dasharatha – Kaushalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi – are seated on a rug on the left hand side. Kaushalya, the senior queen, was the mother of Rama. Sumitra was the mother of the twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughana. Dasharatha wanted to crown Rama, his eldest son, as the next king. Kaikeyi, the youngest queen, manipulated by the evil maidservant Manthara, demanded that her son Bharata be the next king and Rama be banished to the forest for fourteen years. Several years ago, Dasaratha had promised to grant Kaikeyi two wishes. Now bound by his word, the grief-stricken king was forced to send Rama into exile. Rama’s beloved brother, Lakshmana, chose to follow Rama and Sita. Lakshmana is depicted standing here with folded hands asking Rama to stay on at Ayodhya while Rama urges Lakshmana to not make him disobey his father’s orders.

The painting belongs to a well-known series knows as the ‘Shangri’ Ramayana because it once belonged to the rulers of Shangri, a branch of the Kulu royal family. W.G. Archer initially thought the series had been produced at Kulu. He distinguished four classifications within the series based on painting styles. The present painting has been executed in Style II, which along with Style I, was only used for illustrations to the first and second parts (Bala and Ayodhya kanda) of the Ramayana (Archer 1973, Vol.I, pp.325-8). Goswamy and Fisher disagreed with Archer’s attribution and suggested that Styles I and II of the series had been produced in Bahu near Jammu. This was based on similarities with portraits of Raja Kirpal Dev and Raja Anand Dev of Bahu (Goswamy and Fischer 1992, pp.76-81). In the catalogue accompanying the exhibition of the Kronos Collections at the Metropolitan Museum, New York in 2016, all four styles are thought to have been produced at Bahu (Jammu) in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century (McInerney et al, 2016, p.136).

Paintings executed in Style II are distinguished by their golden yellow backgrounds, clothing with vibrant reds, greens, blues and mauves, short jamas for men and pleated skirts for women. The men are depicted with sloping foreheads, prominent eyes and unusual beaked noses. The women have similar sloping and receding foreheads, and long, slightly upturned noses.

Other illustrations from the Shangri Ramayana series painted in Style II are in a number of private and public collections including the Kronos Collections (see McInerney et al, 2016, no.42, p.136-7); National Museum, Delhi; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (I.S.12-1966); Museum Rietberg, Zurich (RVI 932, illus. in Goswamy and Fischer 1992, no.33, pp.90-91). An additional folio was exhibited as part of In the Realm of Gods and Kings, Asia Society Museum, New York, 13 September 2004 – 2 January 2005, illus. in Topsfield (ed.), 2004, no.48, pp.128-9. A further folio sold at Bonhams, New York, 13 March 2017, lot 3140.