Catalogue plate

Krishna, Narada and ArjunaAn illustration from the Harivamsa: Krishna, Narada and Arjuna converse while their companions look on

Attributed to Purkhu (active circa 1780–1820) · Kangra, Punjab Hills, India · circa 1800–1820 (proposed dating)
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper

Complete folio: a broad river of pale grey water fills the lower two thirds. At the left, a dense crowd of bathers stands waist-deep, men above and women below, turned toward one another. At the lower right, three larger figures converse; one holds a long-necked stringed instrument. Along the green bank at the top, crowns, turbans and folded garments lie in heaps of coral, saffron, lavender and white. A red border frames the page.

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Across the luminous breadth of the water, a world gathers. Step through the details at your own pace, or return here at any time.

Entry & apparatus

Catalogue entry + / −

Across the luminous breadth of the Yamuna, a world gathers in water. Bathers turn toward one another in a graceful succession of profiles and answering hands; on the bank, crowns, turbans, and garments rise in sumptuous heaps of coral, saffron, and lavender. At the lower right, the company gives way to a more spacious exchange: Krishna and Arjuna converse with Narada, whose long-necked stringed instrument marks the sage's presence. The river becomes a field of attention, joining the pleasures of an assembly to the intimacy of listening.

Sotheby's identifies the episode as a water gathering from the Harivamsa, the supplement to the Mahabharata concerned with Krishna's lineage and exploits.¹ The dense company at the left and the three interlocutors at the right establish distinct rhythms within a continuous landscape. Between them, pale water opens a measured interval; swimmers and tiny fish carry the eye across its surface. The painter makes a populous sacred narrative legible through the delicacy of individual encounters.

This folio moves with particular eloquence between intimacy and spectacle. An entire realm of sacred sociability unfolds through small exchanges: a listening face, an answering hand, the soft convergence of figures in water. The page holds the abundance of a world while preserving the tenderness of a single moment.

Attribution + / −

The attribution to Purkhu places the folio within the ambitious narrative practice of the Kangra atelier. The National Museum of Asian Art describes Purkhu as the head of a large workshop whose oversize illustrated cycles included the Harivamsa.² Its expansive scale and finely differentiated groups offer a compelling setting for that connoisseurial discussion.

Dating is given as proposed. The comparison is offered as a comparison only; no institutional endorsement of this folio is stated or implied.

Provenance + / −

Acquired from the Royal Library of Mandi in 1969, as recorded by Sotheby's; Sotheby's, New York, 19 September 2008, lot 206.

This published account does not establish a complete chain of ownership.

Selected references + / −

Sotheby's, Indian & Southeast Asian Works of Art, New York, 19 September 2008, N08499, lot 206. Lot record
National Museum of Asian Art, Jarasandha's army advances toward Krishna and Balarama, S2018.1.17, attributed to Purkhu, circa 1800–1815 (comparison). Collection record

Object details + / −

Subject: An illustration from the Harivamsa: Krishna, Narada and Arjuna converse while their companions look on. A water gathering.
Attributed to: Purkhu (active circa 1780–1820)
Origin: Kangra, Punjab Hills, India
Date: circa 1800–1820 (proposed dating)
Medium: Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper
Image: 13 3/4 × 17 1/2 in. (35 × 44.5 cm)
Folio: 15 1/4 × 19 in. (38.8 × 48.2 cm)
Presentation: Harivamsa · A close study

Dimensions and dating are carried from the current catalogue companion with its qualifications intact.

Image & terms + / −

TermsPrice upon request

Viewing file2971 × 2400 px photograph

Master photograph10,865 × 8,777 px TIFF (179 MB), not embedded

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