Illustration of a Ragamala, Desakhya Ragini, North India, Pu - Lot 166

Illustration of a Ragamala, Desakhya Ragini, North India, Punjab Plains, circa 1850 Gouache and gold on paper depicting three mustachioed acrobats with shaved heads, two wielding an instrument, a bat and a disk, the one in the center with his body coiled upside down on a gilded pole. The floor is strewn with textiles. Mounted on an album page with a floral border of gilded rosettes, colored border lines and a wide gold-flecked margin. In the lower margin, a polylobed cartouche inscribed with 6 lines of devanagari in red and black inks on a gilded ground. Framed. Painting size: 13.1 x 9.3 cm; page size: 29.7 x 22 cm Three corners trimmed, stains in the margin, ink and gilding leaks in the calligraphic cartouche, small stains and ripples on the gouache, small repaints. Provenance: Collection of the Maharaja of Burdwan (according to a handwritten note on the back of the frame). Paris private collection, lots 166 to 193.