Archive Item: Sampati's wings regrow and the monkeys wonder how to cross the ocean
Page from the Book of Kiskindha from the 'Early Kangra' Ramayana, work of the 'First Generation after Nainsukh',

circa 1775-80 A.D.

Opaque watercolour with gold on paper

252 by 345 mm.

The whole series is remarkable for its imaginative reconstruction of the world of the Ramayana.

Probably done for the young Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra (1775-1823) at the beginning of his reign, concerned as he was with the worship of Visnu or Krishna rather than his familial ancestral worship of the Devi. Over 100 leaves are known to have survived.

Provenance

Prince (1933-2003) and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan, Geneva
Teddy Millington-Drake (1932-1994), London
Private collection, London, 1994-2008

Exhibited

Exhibited in Miniature Paintings from the Indian and Islamic World, Forge & Lynch Ltd., London, 30 October – 7 November 2008

SOLD TO THE RIETBERG MUSEUM, ZURICH