Untitled

Unknown

ca. 1740–50 · Brush drawing with opaque watercolor on paper · Asian Art

Indian paintings were sometimes used as vehicles for satire. Here Brahmans partake of a feast that has been invaded by a swarm of flies. Two senior Brahmans are seen seated in an open grass-thatched pavilion together with another man dressed in white, likely the young prince who is hosting the feast. As the senior clerics eat from silver trays, attendants attempt to fan away the flies, while the assembly of Brahmans in the lower scene eat from the more customary palm leaf: all part of the painting’s likely purpose of ridiculing a self-serving priesthood.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1740–50

Medium

Brush drawing with opaque watercolor on paper

Culture

India, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, by exchange, 2022