THE COLLECTOR`S EYE (27-28 MAY 2020)

JALANDARNATH

JODHPUR, CIRCA 1820

Inscribed in Nagari at the top

Gouache on paper

Image: 9.25 x 6.25 in (23.4 x 15.8 cm)

Folio: 11.5 x 8.25 in (29.2 x 20.9 cm)

$ 4,055 ‒ 5,410

Rs 3,00,000 ‒ 4,00,000

NON‒EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

This lot is offered at NO RESERVE

PROVENANCE

The Tandan Collection

Saffronart, Mumbai, 14 December 2015, lot 4

Rajasthani miniatures had emerged as a distinct style by the beginning of the

century when the Mughal Empire started to lose its stronghold. Artists

who were not employed in the Mughal imperial ateliers, or who were later

forced to leave under the reign of Aurangzeb, found employment in the

courts of Rajput princes. Miniature painting thrived under the patronage

of the rulers of Kishangarh, Mewar, Bikaner, Kota, Bundi, and Jaipur, and

evolved into four distinct sub‒schools based on region, comprising Mewar,

Marwar (which the present lot belonged to), Hadoti and Dhundhar schools

of painting.

Jalandarnath, the ascetic portrayed in the present lot, was an early leader

of the Nath Sampradaya sect. The king of Jodhpur, Raja Man Singh (1803 ‒

1843) became a devout follower of the Nath sect after its leader Devanath

predicted that he would ascend the throne despite insurmountable odds.

His prediction came true, and Man Singh looked upon him as his spiritual

and political guru. The present lot is likely attributed to Bulaki, a Muslim

painter appointed in Man Singh’s court. He created the

Siddha Siddhanta

series of paintings and is referred to as the

citara musalman

in a statement

that attributes the twenty‒five pages of the Jodhpur folios to him.

Writing about a similar painting, B N Goswamy observes, “The Nath

siddha

nimbus surrounding the head, whomwe see in this painting‒ash‒besmeared

body, a conical cap on the head, large rings in the ears like those of the

kanpatha

sect of

jogis

— is a figure similar to those that appear in other

manuscripts. This was the standard rendering for

siddhas

of that order and

one sees the figure, with very minor variations, in large manuscript after

manuscript of this period [referring to the reign of Raja Man Singh] from

Jodhpur — the Nath Purana, for instance, the Shiva Rahasya, the Shiva

Purana.” (B N Goswamy,

The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with

100 Great Works 1100‒1900

, London: Penguin UK, 2014, p. 271)