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拍品專文
Radha and Krishna, the ideal lovers, look passionately at each other following a night spent together with the dawn sun seen breaking over the hills in the background. Radha is sat up and naked except for an orange wrap whilst Krishna lies contentedly in just a diaphanous saffron shawl.
Sajnu was working at the court of Raja Isvari Sen (r.1788-1826) of Mandi. His work shows a strong stylistic link to Kangra and Guler painting and has been termed ‘Phase Two’ by W.G. Archer. Archer describes this change in style of painting as a ‘revolutionary break’ from the ‘bold, primitive’ and ‘at times, crude’ style of Phase One (circa 1700-1800; Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Vol. I, pp. 360 - 361). Although not a direct descendent Sajnu is counted within the "family" of Nainsukh and Manaku on account of his working within and developing their style. It is likely he trained with artists of the First Generation after Nainsukh and Manaku in Kangra before moving to Mandi in the first decade of the 19th century (Goswamy and Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 2012, p.311).
Although there are no signed works by the artist, works can be attributed to him by comparison to a circa 1810 Hamir Hath series with an inscription by him. There is also a painting of a western horned pheasant (phulgar) inscribed to Sajnu and dating it to approximately the same year as the Hamir Hath series. An illustration from the Hamir Hath was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 September 2021, lot 457 and the pheasant 16 September 2014, lot 306. The present painting belongs to a dispersed Rasikapriya series attributed to Sajnu and his workshop dated between 1810-20. Two comparable paintings from the same series are in the Victoria & Albert Museum (acc.nos. IS.204-1955 and IM.70-1912).
The delicate rendering of the figures, soft faces, the bright textiles, the pale colours of the architecture with niches and turrets in the background, are similar to other works attributed to Sajnu by Archer (op.cit., Vol. I, nos. 43-47, pp. 362-363; Vol. II, 274-276). Although the present painting is uninscribed, the very high quality of the hand with regard to Radha and Krishna is that of a master. Comparably fine portraiture is found in a painting of Vishnu on Garuda attributed to Sajnu circa 1810-20 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2019.144) as well as a painting of Shiva and Parvati being worshipped, attributed to the style of Sajnu, which sold in these Rooms, 25 May 2017, lot 57. That painting features elaborately gold-illuminated spandrels in the borders which relate to the delicate floral-sprays in the borders of the present painting. Imaginative treatment of borders is another feature associated with the work of Sajnu and his circle.
The depiction of Radha with her small mouth, gently curving eyebrow and attention given to individual curls of hair in the present painting also relates to a fine painting of a lady with a parakeet attributed to Sajnu circa 1820 which sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3115. Again, that work is framed by elaborate gold and polychrome illuminated spandrels.
Sajnu was working at the court of Raja Isvari Sen (r.1788-1826) of Mandi. His work shows a strong stylistic link to Kangra and Guler painting and has been termed ‘Phase Two’ by W.G. Archer. Archer describes this change in style of painting as a ‘revolutionary break’ from the ‘bold, primitive’ and ‘at times, crude’ style of Phase One (circa 1700-1800; Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Vol. I, pp. 360 - 361). Although not a direct descendent Sajnu is counted within the "family" of Nainsukh and Manaku on account of his working within and developing their style. It is likely he trained with artists of the First Generation after Nainsukh and Manaku in Kangra before moving to Mandi in the first decade of the 19th century (Goswamy and Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 2012, p.311).
Although there are no signed works by the artist, works can be attributed to him by comparison to a circa 1810 Hamir Hath series with an inscription by him. There is also a painting of a western horned pheasant (phulgar) inscribed to Sajnu and dating it to approximately the same year as the Hamir Hath series. An illustration from the Hamir Hath was sold at Christie’s New York, 22 September 2021, lot 457 and the pheasant 16 September 2014, lot 306. The present painting belongs to a dispersed Rasikapriya series attributed to Sajnu and his workshop dated between 1810-20. Two comparable paintings from the same series are in the Victoria & Albert Museum (acc.nos. IS.204-1955 and IM.70-1912).
The delicate rendering of the figures, soft faces, the bright textiles, the pale colours of the architecture with niches and turrets in the background, are similar to other works attributed to Sajnu by Archer (op.cit., Vol. I, nos. 43-47, pp. 362-363; Vol. II, 274-276). Although the present painting is uninscribed, the very high quality of the hand with regard to Radha and Krishna is that of a master. Comparably fine portraiture is found in a painting of Vishnu on Garuda attributed to Sajnu circa 1810-20 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2019.144) as well as a painting of Shiva and Parvati being worshipped, attributed to the style of Sajnu, which sold in these Rooms, 25 May 2017, lot 57. That painting features elaborately gold-illuminated spandrels in the borders which relate to the delicate floral-sprays in the borders of the present painting. Imaginative treatment of borders is another feature associated with the work of Sajnu and his circle.
The depiction of Radha with her small mouth, gently curving eyebrow and attention given to individual curls of hair in the present painting also relates to a fine painting of a lady with a parakeet attributed to Sajnu circa 1820 which sold at Bonhams, New York, 19 March 2018, lot 3115. Again, that work is framed by elaborate gold and polychrome illuminated spandrels.