AN ILLUSTRATION TO AN ASHTA NAYIKA SERIES: A LADY AWAITING HER LOVER (VASAKASAJJA NAYIKA)
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Mewar, Rajasthan, North-Western India, 18th century

Opaque pigments and ink heightened with gold on wove paper, the vertical-format composition depicting a typical scene featured in Ashta Nayika (Eight Heroines) series, with the nayika awaiting her lover, showed here in distress, pointing at the clouds and storm approaching, worrying that her lover won't reach her due to the meteorological conditions, her sakhi (confidante) hugging and consoling her, the two female characters standing on the terrace of a white marble palatial compound with a lush garden in the front, with 4ll. of black ink Devanagari script at the top describing the scene against an ochre yellow ground, set within concentric black rules and bright red borders, pasted onto a white card mount stamped on reverse Raja of Raghogarh Madhya Pradesh, 30.7cm x 22cm.

Provenance: previously part of a private British collection.