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Krishna Loosens His Beloved's Belt

Krishna Loosens His Beloved's Belt

(active about 1660–1690)
about 1660–70
Object PlaceBasohli or Nurpur, Punjab Hills, Northern India
Medium/TechniqueOpaque watercolor, silver, gold and beetle wing on paper
DimensionsOverall: 23.3 x 33cm (9 3/16 x 13in.)
Other (Without borders): 17.9 x 27cm (7 1/16 x 10 5/8in.)
Credit LineRoss-Coomaraswamy Collection
Accession number17.2780
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPaintings
Collections
InscriptionsObverse: on margin, no. 101; at top, in Devanagari, Nayak Satha. Reverse: at top, in Devanagari, two lines: "The cunning lover won the confidence of his doe-eyed nayika by decorating her braid with garlands, painting floral designs on her forehead with sandal-paste, putting armlets on her upper arms, and placing a necklace of pearls on her breast. Winning the confidence of the fawn-eyed lady he slyly loosens the knot of her skirt, with his soft hand, on the pretext of touching her belt." no. 101
ProvenanceBy 1916, purchased in India by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (b. 1887 - d. 1947); 1917, sold by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy to Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA; 1917, given by Denman Waldo Ross to the MFA. (Accession date: April 5, 1917)