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Lot 658

A LADY READING A LETTER BY CANDLELIGHT
BASHOLI, CIRCA 1795

23 September 2020, 15:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$2,550 inc. premium

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A LADY READING A LETTER BY CANDLELIGHT

BASHOLI, CIRCA 1795
Black and red ink and white gouache on paper.
Folio: 5 1/8 x 6 3/8 in. (13 x 16.2 cm)

Footnotes

This intimate drawing depicts a young noblewoman, likely Damayanti, reading a letter by candlelight in her private quarters. Ladies in waiting attend to her, two playing musical instruments: a lute and a tabla. She smiles at the page's content—no doubt a report of, or a letter from, her lover, Nala. Compare with an almost identical drawing from a Nala Damayanti series in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (Eastman, The Nala-Damayanti drawings, Boston, 1959, pl.6).

Provenance
Collection of Milo Cleveland Beach

Additional information

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