According to the inscription on the top, the verse was composed by Govinda. Other folios from this series are in the Binney Collection (San Diego Museum of Art) and the Fogg Art Museum, where a colophon appears on the representation of Asavari. It gives the artist’s name as Jaikishen of Malpura and the patron’s name as Raiji Motiram. In the picture, we see a couple in a garden outside a pavilion with an empty bed. The moon in the sky indicates that it is night. Judging from the attitudes of the lovers, perhaps the gentleman is about to depart. Although no other published representation of this scene is known, it resembles a late 19th century mural in the Motimahal at Gwalior, described briefly by Ebeling (ibid., p. 229) as a couple absorbed in music. Although Jaikishen has used a great deal of architecture, recording the fine details accurately, the action takes place in flat planes; the colors are applied in bright rectangular patches, and the compositions are contained by floral borders.
Pigments on paper
