A PRINCE AND HIS FAVOURITE LADY ENJOY MUSIC ON A COLD NIGHTATTRIBUTED TO GURSAHAI, GULER, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1815A PRINCE AND HIS FAVOURITE LADY ENJOY MUSIC ON A COLD NIGHTATTRIBUTED TO GURSAHAI, GULER, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1815Opaque pigments on paper, within a blue border and a plain margin, inscribed above in red with the number '13', the reverse plainPainting 8 1/2 x 12 3/4in. (21.5 x 32.4cm.); folio 11 3/4 x 16in. (29.8 x 40.8cm.)Looking at this painting we really feel the cold of the palace in winter with snow-capped mountain peaks protruding behind it. At the centre of our focus the prince and his lady are cosily wrapped in a thick blanket, the attendants also wearing their heavy outer garments and, most importantly, numerous fires burning away. Interestingly it appears the scene was left unfinished with the hookahs and textiles left conspicuously plain and presumably another fire intended to be painted in the smaller pavilion to the right. The painter Gursahai was the son of Ranjha and second generation after Nainsukh. Of this generation, his name is amongst the more easily found from contemporary records. Probably trained in Guler and Kangra, he worked predominantly in the latter but spent periods of time in Basohli. Stylistically he followed after his father with smaller figures and busier compositions, although favouring the cropping of figures and faces by architectural ornament or the painting border itself (B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, Zurich, 1992). Gursahai was seemingly the principal artist of Raja Bhup Singh of Kangra (r.1790-1826), who is most likely the model for our prince. We can match the likeness to many earlier portraits of the Raja who was known for filling his time with women including, but not limited to, his twelve Ranis (W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Guler, 57-59, 62). Another painting of Bhup Singh signed by Gursahai is in the Government Museum in Chandigarh.细节 A PRINCE AND HIS FAVOURITE LADY ENJOY MUSIC ON A COLD NIGHTATTRIBUTED TO GURSAHAI, GULER, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1815Opaque pigments on paper, within a blue border and a plain margin, inscribed above in red with the number 13, the reverse plainPainting 8 1/2 x 12 3/4in. (21.5 x 32.4cm.); folio 11 3/4 x 16in. (29.8 x 40.8cm.) 来源 Svetoslav Nikolaevich Roerich Collection 出版 S. Paul, Gursahai: A Guler Painter at Basohli, in V.C. Ohri, and R. Craven, (eds.), Painters of the Pahari Schools, Marg Publications, Bombay, 1998, fig. 7L.V. Habighorst, L. Reichart, P.A. and V. Sharma, Love for Pleasure: Betel, Tobacco, Wine and Drugs in Indian Miniatures, Ragaputra Edition, Koblenz, 2007. Published in German as Genuss und Rausch. Betel, Tabak, Wein und Rauschdrogen in indischen Miniaturen, Ragaputra Edition, Koblenz, 2007, fig. 42.V. Sharma, Kangra ki citramkan parampara, Chamba, 2010, p. 34 J.P. Losty, Paintings for the Pahari Rajas, Francesca Galloway, London, 2020, no. 23V. Sharma, Painting in the Kangra Valley, Delhi, 2020, pl. 29