AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RUKMINI HARAN SERIES: BALARAMA FIGHTING THE ARMIES OF SHISHUPALA
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Possibly Mandi in Kangra style, Pahari School, Punjab Hills, first half 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the crowded horizontal-format composition depicting a dynamic battle scene with two parties of soldiers on horseback shooting arrows and charging against each other, the Hindu deity Balarama, the eldest brother of Krishna, depicted seated on a chariot holding a club and a sickle, and hitting King Shishupala's soldiers, his character standing out from the crowd due to his gem-studded golden lotus crown and being the only one without an armour, possibly a visual reminder of his divine and unassailable status, to his side a charging elephant directed by a mahout, the troops on the right wearing similar attires to the ones on the left adding to the visual puzzlement and confusion of the scene, set on a green hilly landscape, within white and red rules, and typical Pahari Kangra decorative borders including a two-tone yellow and white floral spray on a blue ground and another pink, the reverse with a typed caption in German describing the scene and the inventory number K 528, 23.8cm x 28.4cm.

Provenance: previously part of a private German collection.

For a similar illustration to a Rukmini Haran series depicting Balarama's battle, please see Christie's New York, 23 March 2022, lot 472. For another crowded battle scene attributed to Mandi, showcasing an analogous dynamic rendering, please see Christie's New York, 22 September 202, lot 457.