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Chesta Chatura Nayaka (The Hero Who is Clever in Action)


Arranging a Tryst
Attributed to: Kripal (active about 1660–1690)
Indian, Pahari
1660–70
Object Place: Basohli or Nurpur, Punjab Hills, Northern India

Medium/Technique Opaque watercolor, silver, gold, and beetle wing on paper
Dimensions Overall: 22.9 x 32.6 cm (9 x 12 13/16 in. )
Credit Line Ross-Coomaraswamy Collection
Accession Number17.2785
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsPaintings

InscriptionsObverse: in Takri, on top margin: "Cekhra catara satha." Number 109 on left margin. Reverse: in Devanagari, 2 line inscription, translated by Coomaraswamy: "Beloved, what are you doing with the golden orange in your hand? (So said) the moon-face as she placed a dot on the bright circles (bhanau) painted in the house" Alternate translation: "When the lover holds in his hand the golden lime fruit, the moon-faced nayika puts a dot on the sun painted on the wall."
ProvenanceBy 1916, purchased in India by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (b. 1887 - d. 1947); 1917, sold by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy to Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA; 1917, given by Denman Waldo Ross to the MFA. (Accession date: April 5, 1917)