Krishna with Gopis Crossing the Grove - Drum & Tanpura - Miniature on Reused Devanagari Ledger Leaf (Rajasthan, Jaipur/Kishangarh circle), c. 1860-1890 Anonymous

Artistic Context & Overview Krishna (haloed, crowned) walks with four gopis through a night grove, the party accompanied by music: one plays a tanpura and another carries a small drum. A village hut with yellow thatch and a stream appear in the background. The dense stippled foliage and stacked hill forms reflect the late-19th-century Jaipur/Kishangarh idiom with Kangra lyricism. 2) Visual / Technical Description Medium: Opaque watercolor (gouache) with gold on paper. Borders: Triple yellow/red inner rules; outer brown field cut from a written leaf. Palette: Olive and bottle greens, saffron yellow, mauve, rose; Krishna rendered light blue with peacock plume. Iconography: Krishna receives a flower while holding a pot/drum at the waist; gopis play tanpura and carry a small drum; hut and stream at right; night sky with low clouds. Stylistic notes: Clean contour lines, crisp textile patterns, and balanced figural grouping consistent with ca. 1860-90 Rajasthan workshops. 3) Material / Manuscript Context Support: reused Devanagari account/ledger (khātā) sheet. The front margins and the full reverse preserve vertical entries of names and rupee figures-many underlined or struck through-with common bookkeeping terms (jamā = credit, udhār = loan, kharch = expense, hisāb = balance). Arithmetic checks and tallied totals appear at the bottom margin. This reuse is typical of 19th-century Rajasthan bazaar-workshop practice. 4) Condition (Summary) Front: minor perimeter wear and a small crease at the lower border; pigments bright and stable. Reverse: writing legible in parts; toned and lightly stained; old mount scar at upper right; no tears entering the painted field. 5) Provenance / Significance From a U.S. collection assembled from Indian sources c. 2008-2015. The devotional subject, Jaipur-Kishangarh palette, and recycled ledger support typify late-19th-century North Indian bazaar production. Musical attributes add display value and narrative clarity. 6) Translation & Analysis of Text (front margins & reverse, line-by-line) Script: Devanagari (vernacular Old Hindi/Marwari). Ink: brown-black. Layout: narrow vertical entries separated by drawn rules; many end with rupee figures and underlines. Line Transliteration (visible fragment) English sense Confidence F-1 . khātā . "Account / ledger" Mediumheader word F-2 . rūpiyā 25 . Amount: 25 rupees Medium F-3 . jamā . "Credit / deposit" Medium F-4 . udhār . "On credit / loan" Medium F-5 . nām likhyo . "Name recorded/written" Low F-6 .[-]ji . Name with honorific -ji (surname unclear) Low F-7 .-lāl / -māl . Name fragment ending -lāl/-māl (common Marwari endings) Low F-8 .-rām . Name fragment ending -rām (e.g., Bhōlarām, Harirām) Low F-9 .-dās . Name fragment ending -dās (e.g., Gopāldās) Low R-1 . 115 . Figure "115" (amount) Medium R-2 . 135 . Figure "135" (amount/total) Medium R-3 . 523 . Underlined total "523" Low R-4 . 11135 . Large figure (running total / account no., not a year) Low R-5 . 11 = 115 . Arithmetic check "11 = 115" (tally notation) Low R-6 . prāpt . "Received" Medium R-7 . kharch . "Expense/outlay" Medium R-9 R-10 R-8 . hisāb . "Account/balance" Low . tārīkh . [numerals lost] .-singh / -chand . Word "date" present; numerals abraded Name fragments ending -singh, -chand Low Low Names & dates: Only partial endings (-ji, -lāl/-māl, -rām, -dās, -singh, -chand) are legible; no full surname is clear in the present images. No secure Gregorian year appears; large numbers read as monetary totals, not dates. 7) Conclusion Attribution: Rajasthan, Jaipur/Kishangarh circle, c. 1860-1890. Subject: Krishna with gopis and musicians crossing a grove at night. Support: Reused Devanagari khātā (ledger) leaf; visible margin writing is original to the recycled support. ESTIMATED VALUE Auction Estimate: $700 - $1,400 USD Retail Range: $1,500 - $2,500 USD