AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RASIKAPRIYA SERIES: KRISHNA AND RADHA TENDERLY EMBRACING
Rajasthan or Malwa, India, 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on wasli paper, the vertical composition depicting Krishna holding Radha tightly to his side and leading her to the next room, with a low bed bedecked with gaudy textiles with floral patterns in tune with the wall and niche decorations, the scene charged with emotional suspense, emphasised by Radha's coyness, touching Krishna's elbow as a way to delay him and not surrender too quickly to their burning passion, to the left on top of the lush tree in full bloom a peacock spying on the couple, the scene set within white rules and red borders, the recto backed with old accounting paper with black ink annotations, 25.5cm x 17cm.

Provenance: in a private UK collection since the late 1970s.