KRISHNA PLAYFULLY TEMPTING HIS LOVER AT NIGHT
Provincial Kangra School, Pahari Hills, Northern India, 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, the vertical composition depicting Lord Krishna with his lover in their bed-chamber at night, the heavily bejewelled female heroine lying in bed half-naked and awakened in her sleep by Krishna trying to playfully undress her by pulling the string of her trousers, his flute tucked into his robe, possibly a hint that the Ras Lila is over and that now his one true love can get his unconditional attention, the gaze of the lover making Krishna blush, the cheragh (candle) in the foreground still lit, another hint to the lovers' passion, the sky lit by the crescent moon and stars, night birds chirping in the trees, the scene set within white and red rules, and a typical Kangra-style floral border on dark blue ground and another light pink border, mounted, glazed and framed, the back of the frame with four lines of black ink Devanagari script with red punctuation, 26cm x 20.5cm excluding the frame.