KOTA, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, THE RECTO, CIRCA 1720-1730; THE VERSO, CIRCA 1680

Most unusual for this series, the verso of our folio is another, in fact earlier, Kota painting rather than the usual later Jaipur painting. It depicts Rao Madho Singh of Kota (r.1631-48) saluting Krishna in a forest. Madho Singh, son of Rao Ratan Singh, was the first ruler of Kota after the dividing of the Hara State and separation from Bundi. The Rao is barefoot and in a posture of obseisance whilst Krishna stands before him on a chauki playing his flute. Krishna wears a fine crown with peacock feathers and his swinging dhoti and garlands are expertly handled to give a sense of movement. Such is Krishna’s playing that a young cow and peacock stare at him in wonderment. Behind him stand two gopis, one of whom waves a fly-whisk and the other strains to reach above and shower him with flowers. Krishna is cast against a solid red background which was regularly employed in earlier painting to denote important personages and divinities. Interestingly, this would have been considered an archaic device by the latter decades of the 17^th century when the painting was executed. The composition is carefully balanced with Krishna and the gopis framed by a plantain and the central tree with the Rao similarly framed by the same tree and another plantain on the left. Another almost identical painting to this is in the British Museum, London (Inv.1985,0714,0.17) but which shows Krishna with four arms. The depiction of Krishna and the gopis relates stylistically very closely to depictions of Vasanta Raga now in the Fort Museum in Kota.

On the recto we see an illustration of the heroics of Krishna in Mathura, where he travels to confront King Kamsa. We see here the three deeds performed by Krishna. Firstly, Krishna and Balarama encounter a hunchbacked maidservant who, following their encounter, can miraculously straighten her back. Upon entering the city, Krishna is faced by a huge elephant which is overcome by pulling out one of the tusks to use as a weapon. Finally, Kamsa sends his champion wrestlers Chanura and Mustika to dispose of the two boys but the wrestlers are quickly dispatched. The illustration vividly depicts each of these deeds in full and gory detail. Intriguingly the artist has laid out the painting in reverse order, perhaps for sake of composition, but we see the two dead wrestlers at the bottom of the page, the raging elephant above them and, just outside Kamsa’s palace is the maidservant. Atop all of this Kamsa is shown peering down from his jharoka and not looking overly thrilled with how events are unfolding below. In typical Kota fashion of the second and third decades of the 18^th century, we see deep shading around eyelids and jawlines and gently rounded forms.

For other folios from the Kota-Jaipur album see M.C. Beach, “Masters of Early Kota Painting” in M.C.Beach, E. Fischer, and B.N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting, Zurich, 2011, pp.459-78, figs, 14, 15, 17 and 18. Another folio, the recto with Krishna and Radha embracing during a storm and the verso an image of Sri Nathji, is in the Harvard Art Museum (Inv.2015.31).