AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A KRISHNA LILA SERIES: THE MEETING OF THE TWO SAKHIS (CONFIDANTES)
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GERMAN COLLECTION
Jaipur, Rajasthan, North-Western India, ca. 1820 - 1840

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the horizontal composition depicting a scene from a Krishna Lila series, marked as number 56 in the cusped yellow cartouche on the lower-right corner, the yellow epigraphic cartouche at the top filled with poetic love couplets of black ink Braj Bhasha dialect, the one at the bottom filled with an explanation of the above couplets in Rajasthani dialect, mounted on cardboard, glazed and framed, 27.5cm x 39.8cm excluding the frame.

This illustration follows the previous lot and comes from the same early 19th-century Rajasthani Krishna Lila series. In this scene, the nayika's maidens and sakhi are portrayed in conversation with the nayaka's female messenger on a palatial terrace in front of a white marble pavilion. Both sakhis appear to be having a pleasant discussion; their hand gestures suggesting they are listening to each other's opinion and possibly agreeing on the best course of action. The last maiden in the back of the group to the right is shown tapping the shoulder of the lady in front of her, as if she wanted to join (or interrupt) the sakhis' conversation, a decision which is immediately regretted and abandoned given the stern look she receives from her companion.