7 x 5¹⁄₄ in. (17.8 x 13.3 cm.)

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 14 December 1979, lot 72.

The Rasikapriya ("A Connoisseur's Delight") is a Hindi work in verse written by Keshav Das (circa 1520-1601) in 1591 in Orchla in Madhya Pradesh. The text is concerned with love and types of lovers, usually represented by Krishna and his mortal lover Radha.

This illustration is from the earliest known series of the Malwa school, dated 1634 AD in the colophon of one of the paintings (in a private collection). The basic color palette and flat composition are hallmarks of early Malwa painting, a time with little influence from the Mughal ateliers.

‌Other pages from this series are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. nos. 51.58 and 35.34), the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc. nos. 2018.124 and 1938.303), Brooklyn Museum of Art (acc. nos. 86.227.51, 42.407,82.73., and 36.232), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (acc. nos. 1947-49-2a‌ and 1947-49-2b), the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution (acc. no. F1935.2), the Victoria and Albert Museum (acc. nos. IS.86-1958 and IS.26-1958), the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (acc. no. B82D9), and the San Diego Museum of Art (acc. no. 1990.946). Further pages have sold at Christie’s London 1 October 2012, lot 38 for GBP 2,125 and two pages from the Pal Family Collection at Christie’s New York 20 March 2008, lot 237 for $6,875.