Lovers by a lotus pool
Details
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Title
Lovers by a lotus pool
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Associated people
Jonathan Richardson the Younger (1694 - 1771) (owner)John Barnard (died 1784) (owner)Jonathan Richardson, the Elder (1665 - 1745) (owner) -
Associated place
north Deccan (probable) (probable place of creation)south Rajasthan (possible) (possible place of creation) -
Date
c. 1700 -
Material and technique
gouache with gold on paper
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Material index
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Technique index
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Object type
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Dimensions
mount 40.1 x 27.7 cm (height x width)
page 22.6 x 12.7 cm (height x width)
painting without border 16.4 x 6.9 cm (height x width) -
No. of items
1
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Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the V&A, the Friends of the Ashmolean Museum, and the Eric North Bequest Fund, 1983.
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA1983.129
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Catalogue text
This simply conceived but delightful study of a noble couple embracing by a stream or pool with lotuses was probably painted around the beginning of the 18th century by a Rajasthani artist working under strong Deccan influences. During the 17th century many of the Rajput princes spent long periods campaigning with the Mughal armies in the Deccan and in some cases acquired a taste for the local styles of painting.
The picture is also of interest in that it has an unusually early English provenance (though not so early as the Indian album given by Archbishop Laud to the Bodelain Library in 1640). It bears marks showing that it belonged to three well known 18th century collectors of old master drawings, John Richardson senior (1665-1745), his son John Richardson junior and John Barnard (d.1784). The elder Richardson, who was himself an artist is known to have owned a group of Rembrandt’s drawings based on Mughal paintings, as well as an album of Indian drawings.In: Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987)
Further reading
Harle, J. C., and Andrew Topsfield, Indian Art in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1987), no. 86 on p. 78, pl. 15 (colour) & p. 78
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