NEW PROPOSALS MAY 2023

6 ILLUMINATIONS

A miraculous catch of fish (?).
India, probably Bikaner school, 19th c.,
distemper on paper, 20 by 30 cm
Verso of the illumination showing a flower vase and floral border.
On top probably the author’s signature.

Euro 2500 + shipment

Playing under a mango tree.
India, probably Bikaner school, 19th c.,
distemper on paper, 20 by 30 cm

Euro 2500 + shipment

A raja prays Shiva in the form of a linga
while a rishi descends from the sky on a swan-shaped boat.
India, Rajasthan, Jodhpur school, 19th c., distemper on paper, 41 by 31 cm

Euro 1450 + shipment

Page from the Bhagavata Purana
showing scenes from the life of Krishna.
India, Rajasthan, Datia school, 19th c.,
distemper on paper, 28 by 38 cm

Euro 3600 + shipment

Court scene.
India, Rajasthan, Mewar school, 18th c.,
distemper on paper, 25 by 23 cm

Euro 1500 + shipment

A courtesan.
India, Rajasthan, 19th c.,
reverse glass painting, 31 by 23 cm
The almond-eyed woman was painted by a Chinese artist in India.
She wears a Portuguese style hat

Euro 2400 + shipment

1. Durga as Mahishasuramardini

Central India, 19th century
Bronze alloy, H 10.5 cm
SOLD

The iconographic imaginative power of the Hindu pantheon is virtually unbounded; the gods manifest in a thousand different forms, but so do the demons, in an endless attempt to deceive the gods, to elude their power and take their place. The demon Mahisha, killed by the goddess Durga while he appeared as a buffalo, is represented in this small bronze as a meek camel, even if its demon head with horns betrays its true nature. Durga jumps on his back, catches him by the hair and pierces him with a trident, the symbol of the god Shiva. This is the first time I see a statue showing the demon as a camel, an animal hardly appearing in the Hindu pantheon. It is a rare piece, skilfully made with compelling realism, and there is an amusing contrast between the peaceful nature of the recumbent camel and the diabolical face of the horned head.

2. Durga as Mahishasuramardini
India, Himachal Pradesh, 15th/16th century
Bronze, H. 12 cm

SOLD

Durga’s figure is defined by few essential lines, as if it had been sketched on a drawing board. The goddess’ large eyes in the typical style of folk bronzes of Himachal Pradesh stand out, as does the elaborate aureole enclosing the scene. With one of her left hands Durga holds the tail of the tiger that seems to be biting the demon, his hands in a praying posture. And with another of her right hands Durga thrusts the spear into the buffalo’s bodythe last, useless transformation the demon Mahisha had resorted to in an attempt to save himself.

Mahishasuramardini
India,18th/19th century
Bronze alloy, H. cm. 9
SOLD

How many times, and by how many hands was this tiny statue of Durga touched, worshipped, invoked, thanked, for it to be so worn out as to almost seem abstract? And yet all the distinctive elements of this bronze miniature are clearly visible—the tiger attacking the demon while he is about to transmigrate from the buffalo’s body, the head the goddess clutches by the hair, the countless arms that seem to radiate from the goddess like an aureole. Everything is thin, almost threadlike, an extreme stylization that nevertheless enhances the figure of the goddess in this terrible and powerful scene. Another extraordinary image a phenomenal craftsman-artist managed to shape into such a small object.

An Indian “Pietà”
Central India,19th century
Bronze, lost-wax casting. H. 7 cm
Giuseppe Berger Collection, acquired in the 1990s
SOLD

As in the many “Pietà” to be seen in Catholic churches and in museums all over the world (the most famous being the one by Michelangelo) this small composition shows a woman holding a man cradled in her lap. It is an image of intense but also puzzling “Piety”, if we consider that this small bronze comes from a tribal area of India. In her right hand the woman wields a scepter, and with her left she embraces and holds the man’s body, lying motionless with wide open arms. The woman’s arms are completely covered in armlets, as customary among some ethnic groups of tribal India. A large necklace falls on her breast, her long hair is gathered in a lovely long plait with elaborate clips behind the nape of her neck. Her face is composed, rapt in her moment of sorrow, whilst the man’s face seems still and lifeless. An honorific gateway (toran) encloses the scene. But who are these two figures, expressing—in a way I never saw before in Indian arta reserved sorrow but also a sense of acceptance of death’s inevitability? Rather than the image of a goddess, does it not look like a much more human caring wife holding the mortal remains of a husband, of a son, of a hero? It remains a mystery, but a wonderful, intense one.

Virabhadra
India, Karnataka, 18th century
Bronze, lost-wax casting
H. 24 cm

Euro 3600 + shipment

The fierce expression, the mighty chest, the weapons shown with self-confidence, everything contributes to describe an invincible warrior, whose figure is however softened by the full body volumes, thus reconciling might and sensuality. The left leg slightly stepping forward in the classical “triple bend” adds movement to the figure, wearing the typical clogs of the time. A rare statue in the round of this god usually depicted in relief on metal plaques.

Ganesh with two mice
Central India, 19th century
Bronze alloy, H. 10.5 cm
Euro 1800 + shipment

Sitting cross-legged, the four-armed Ganesh is flanked by two mice. The lower right hand is in the gesture of protection; the lower left holds his preferred sweet. The upper right hand holds a scepter and the left one the ankus (goad) used by the mahout to train and lead elephants.

THREE AQUATINTS BY THOMAS AND WILLIAM DANIELL

by Daniela Bellini

Paramount among the British artists who competed to fix on canvas and print the beautiful exotic views of India at the end of the 18th century are the ineffable Daniells—Thomas and William, uncle and nephew—for the accuracy of their images and the precision of lights and tones in their watercolors, later also aquatints. It took quite some courage, at that time, to face the dangers and hardships of those expeditions, all the more so when one of the two adventurers was just 15! Probably the two would have preferred to be remembered for their oil paintings, but it was the aquatints collected in the images of the six volumes of the monumental “Oriental Scenery” that brought them world fame. The ambitious project, which took 13 years to be completed, ended in 1795 after nine years of expeditions to India. This ambitious project, which took 13 years to complete, ended in 1795 after nine years of expeditions to India. Thus it was that their works depicting the busy streets of Calcutta teeming with life (1786), the majestic temples carved from the pure rock of Ellora (1793), the Fatehpur Sikri fortress, the magnificent temples of south India and even the peaks of the Himalayas—when presented to the British public met with a remarkable success, for never before had mysterious India disclosed its secrets. However, the Daniells’ varied production—sketches, drawings, prints, watercolors and oil paintings—only attained world fame thanks to the sophisticated technique of aquatint. This technique, more complex than etching, enabled reproducing the whole range of original tones. The images contained in the Daniells’ masterpiece “Oriental Scenery” could then be replicated in a series of aquatints which met with an unprecedented success, besides improving the knowledge of Indian history, geography, archaeology and architecture. Architecture had also launched a particularly exotic fashion in design, giving rise to an “Indian style” which was employed for some noteworthy English public buildings.

The entrance of the Indra Sabha temple at Ellora.
cm 48 x 65
Euro 1800 + shipment (already framed)

The largest of the Jain temples was carved during the last phase of construction at Ellora and goes back to the Rashtrakuta Period, 9th century. Nowadays the temple is accessed via the gate at the middle of the boundary wall, which did not exist in Daniells’ time—therefore the altar and the column could be seen without obstruction.

Shiva Temple, Elephanta Island.
cm. 48 x 65
Euro 1800 + shipment (already framed)

A shivalinga at the heart of this shrine is offered to the devotion of the faithful in this rock-cut temple, guarded by pairs of huge guardians placed along the entrances on the four sides. The flat ceiling is supported by fine partially carved columns, while the heap of collapsed stones on the left of the image indicates a former natural access to the temple.

The Kanauj mosque.
cm 48 x 65
Euro 2100 + shipment (already framed)

The remains of the Kanauj mosque date from the 7th-8th century but the other buildings erected by Iraham Shah of Jaunpur date from 1406. Today the site is called Makhdum Jhanina, and it features columns, arches and a prayer room typical of Muslim architecture before the Moghul invasion.

LOVING COUPLE (MITHUNA)
Central India, 10th/11th century
Sandstone,  H. 72 cm
Price on request

The two lovers (mithuna) are gazing at each other in an attitude of great adoration and languid sensuousness. The élan of this composition conveys the harmony and fullness of the amorous feeling. This is the portrait of a human love which is able to rise from the earthly plane to the spiritual one.

BUDDHA HEAD
North India
Gupta Dynasty, 5th century
Sandstone, H. 18 cm
Price on request

The Gupta art turns the idealised naturalism of the Gandharan face into the most refined and inspired emblem of Buddhist art. The perfect oval of the face is animated by the soft lines of the lips and of the eyes. The expression of the slightly bulging, almond-shaped eyes combines sweetness and spirituality. Short and regular curls cover the head, the typical hair-style which characterises the iconography of the Master in most buddhist works.

Surya the Sun God.
India, Almora, 10th c.,
schist, H. 44 cm
Price on request

His halo is the sun disk, for Surya is the god who drives away darkness, even that of ignorance. In his hands he holds two lotus flowers, symbolizing the spiritual path which, from the mud of ignorance, leads to Light and produces Awareness. Surya is young and smiling for he incarnates light in all its aspects.

Renzo Freschi
info@renzofreschi.com
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