Beschreibung:

An illustration from a Sat Sai series of Bihari, depicting Krishna and Radha strolling in the moonlight, watched by two gossips
Datia, circa 1780gouache and gold on paper, original blue borders lacking, verso two lines of poetry written in black and red ink
181 x 193 mm.FootnotesProvenance
With Maggs Bros., London, Oriental Miniatures and Illumination, Bulletin 41 (August 1987), no. 24 (illus.)
Formerly in the collection of the late Zara Bruzzi (probably acquired at Maggs).
Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 6th April 2006, lot 428.
Simon Ray, Indian and Islamic Works of Art, November 2008, no. 66.
Private US collection.
The verses on the back of the painting read as follows:
What one of Radha's companions said to another:
'Is this a wonder I see, dear friend?
Both Radha and Krishna in the moonlight-streaked lane,
Two, but seeming one,
her golden-hued form merging with the moonlight,
his dark one with the night's blackness!/
(trans. K. P. Bahadur, Bihari: the Satasai, Penguin, 1990, p. 264, no. 585).
The Sat Sai or 'seven hundred' verses is a Hindi text of 1662, and focuses on the romance of Krishna and Radha, while also containing verses on neeit (moral lessons), shringara (love), and most importantly bhakti (devotion). Bihari Lal was a poet at the court of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, and was later invited by Raja Jai Singh of Amber to move to his court. It is at Amber that Bihari Lal is supposed to have composed the Sat Sai.