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Lot Essay
Looking at this painting we really feel the cold of the palace in winter with snow-capped mountain peaks protruding behind it. At the centre of our focus the prince and his lady are cosily wrapped in a thick blanket, the attendants also wearing their heavy outer garments and, most importantly, numerous fires burning away. Interestingly it appears the scene was left unfinished with the hookahs and textiles left conspicuously plain and presumably another fire intended to be painted in the smaller pavilion to the right.
The painter Gursahai was the son of Ranjha and second generation after Nainsukh. Of this generation, his name is amongst the more easily found from contemporary records. Probably trained in Guler and Kangra, he worked predominantly in the latter but spent periods of time in Basohli. Stylistically he followed after his father with smaller figures and busier compositions, although favouring the cropping of figures and faces by architectural ornament or the painting border itself (B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, Zurich, 1992). Gursahai was seemingly the principal artist of Raja Bhup Singh of Kangra (r.1790-1826), who is most likely the model for our prince. We can match the likeness to many earlier portraits of the Raja who was known for filling his time with women including, but not limited to, his twelve Ranis (W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Guler, 57-59, 62). Another painting of Bhup Singh signed by Gursahai is in the Government Museum in Chandigarh.
The painter Gursahai was the son of Ranjha and second generation after Nainsukh. Of this generation, his name is amongst the more easily found from contemporary records. Probably trained in Guler and Kangra, he worked predominantly in the latter but spent periods of time in Basohli. Stylistically he followed after his father with smaller figures and busier compositions, although favouring the cropping of figures and faces by architectural ornament or the painting border itself (B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, Zurich, 1992). Gursahai was seemingly the principal artist of Raja Bhup Singh of Kangra (r.1790-1826), who is most likely the model for our prince. We can match the likeness to many earlier portraits of the Raja who was known for filling his time with women including, but not limited to, his twelve Ranis (W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Guler, 57-59, 62). Another painting of Bhup Singh signed by Gursahai is in the Government Museum in Chandigarh.