AN ILLUSTRATION TO A BIHARI SATSAI SERIES: THE LOVER DEPARTING
Kangra, Pahari Hills, Northern India, second half 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the vertical-format composition depicting a typical scene of Indian romances with the two lovers partying and wishing their goodbyes in a palatial courtyard, the nayika (female heroine) leaning out of the window to give a final glance at her lover, the yellow-clad Krishna, looking back at her from the courtyard ground, set within concentric Kangra-style decorative borders with two-tone floral sprays on black ground and bright red ground, mounted, glazed and framed, the folio 21cm x 16.3cm, 34cm x 29cm including the frame.