Description

These rare preparatory drawings belong to a dispersed illustrated Ramayana series produced in Chamba during the reign of Raja Umed Singh (r. 1748–1764), likely within the circle of the celebrated painter Laharu. Executed in red outline and left unfinished, they preserve the working process behind one of the major narrative painting traditions of the Punjab Hills.

The first sheet depicts the Coronation of Rama (Pattabhisheka), showing Rama and Sita enthroned within a palace setting as attendants and vanara allies assemble in celebration. The second represents Rama and Sita receiving the sage Agastya and other rishis following the coronation, an episode associated with the establishment of Rama’s righteous reign. Both compositions display the characteristic narrative clarity of Chamba painting, with small figures arranged in orderly registers and architecture used to structure the unfolding story.

Preparatory drawings from major Pahari manuscript and series commissions survive in relatively small numbers. Closely related examples from the Chamba atelier were first published by Jagdish Mittal in 1955 and provide important evidence for the working methods of eighteenth-century painters. The present sheets appear to belong to the same tradition of workshop practice, preserving the preliminary stages of compositions intended for a larger illustrated cycle.

The drawings also reflect the distinctive artistic environment of Chamba under Raja Umed Singh. While painters in neighboring Guler increasingly adopted Mughal-inspired naturalism, Chamba artists favored direct narrative storytelling, arranging figures in rhythmic registers across the surface and employing architecture as an organizing framework. These sheets therefore offer a valuable glimpse into both the creative process and artistic character of mid-eighteenth-century Chamba painting.

Provenance

Private Italian Collection

Chiswick Auctions, London, Islamic & Indian Art, 28 October 2022, Lot 274
Private Collection, New York

References

Archer, W.G. Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills. London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1973.

Beach, Milo C., Eberhard Fischer, and B.N. Goswamy. Masters of Indian Painting. Zurich and New York: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 2011.

Goswamy, B.N., and Eberhard Fischer. Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India. Zurich: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 1992.

Mittal, Jagdish. “Some Ramayana and Bhagawata Drawings of Chamba.” Marg 8, no. 3 (1955): 26–31.

Seyller, John, and Jagdish Mittal. Pahari Drawings in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art. Hyderabad: Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, 2013.

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