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Lot Essay
This is an illustration from a Satsai of Bihari series depicting the eternal lovers, Radha and Krishna facing each other in a pavilion. Radha is upbraiding him for his flirtatious behavior towards other women. Krishna looks surprisingly calm, trying to convey his innocence to his beloved.
The Satsai or 'seven hundred' verses is an early vernacular text written in the Braj Bhasha proto-dialect of Hindi. It was written by the seventeenth-century poet, Bihari Lal, who was the court poet of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and was later invited by Raja Jai Singh of Amber to move to his court. It is at Amber that Bihari is supposed to have composed the Satsai. The verses are spoken by the nayaka (hero) and nayika (heroine) and in the tradition of poetic texts illustrated through the romance of Krishna and Radha.
The Satsai is best known for a well-published series painted in the Guler style by the family workshop of Nainsukh and Manaku, dated circa 1775-85, which was originally in the Tehri-Garhwal Collection (J.P. Losty, 2017, p.277). The oval format seen in the Guler series was also used by Garhwal artists when they copied the set a few years later. For a Guler original of our illustration, see Randhawa, 1966, fig.7, p.13. In comparison with the Guler illustration, the landscape in the background and the architectural and textile decoration in our painting is more elaborate and the figures more stylized.
For two further illustrations from this Garhwal series which sold at auction recently, see Christie’s London, 26 May 2016, lots 15 & 16.
The Satsai or 'seven hundred' verses is an early vernacular text written in the Braj Bhasha proto-dialect of Hindi. It was written by the seventeenth-century poet, Bihari Lal, who was the court poet of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and was later invited by Raja Jai Singh of Amber to move to his court. It is at Amber that Bihari is supposed to have composed the Satsai. The verses are spoken by the nayaka (hero) and nayika (heroine) and in the tradition of poetic texts illustrated through the romance of Krishna and Radha.
The Satsai is best known for a well-published series painted in the Guler style by the family workshop of Nainsukh and Manaku, dated circa 1775-85, which was originally in the Tehri-Garhwal Collection (J.P. Losty, 2017, p.277). The oval format seen in the Guler series was also used by Garhwal artists when they copied the set a few years later. For a Guler original of our illustration, see Randhawa, 1966, fig.7, p.13. In comparison with the Guler illustration, the landscape in the background and the architectural and textile decoration in our painting is more elaborate and the figures more stylized.
For two further illustrations from this Garhwal series which sold at auction recently, see Christie’s London, 26 May 2016, lots 15 & 16.