AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES: A MUSICAL SALUTE IN HEAVEN FOR THE BIRTH OF KRISHNASOUTHERN RAJASTHAN, SIROHI OR WESTERN GUJARAT, CIRCA 1725 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; inscribed at the top margin Shri Krishnaji janmam mate vajitra vajai che (celebrations weing the birth of Krishna) . Image: 7 1/2 x 8 5/8 in. (19 x 21.9 cm); Folio: 9 3/8 x 10 1/2 in. (23.8 x 26.7 cm) The blasts of various kinds of trumpets and the thunder of drums salute the birth of Krishna in this page from a Bhagavata Purana series. Four musicians stand blowing their various kinds of trumpets, while another two kneel behind their huge drums and wield their drumsticks with some vigor. The figures are isolated within a reddish-brown ground under a colorful patchwork awning suspended by white cords. As soon as Krishna is born and is worped by his parents, he is of course spirited away to save him from Kamsa's death threats (Bh. P. X, 10), but as we can see from another page in this series, these noisy celebrations at Krishna's birth take place in heaven, when the gandharvas make music and dance (Goswamy and Bhatia 1999, no. 148). Another page from this series has in the margins an intricate interlace (Bautze 1987, no. 25), while other pages have floral scrolls with large flowers (e.g. Pal et al. 1993 no. 3, Poster, Realms of Heroism et al. 1994, no. 178, and Mason, A Collector's Dream , 2001, no. 57). It is by no means certain that the serieses from Sirohi, although most authorities agree ites from south-west Rajasthan or northern Gujarat. John Seyller notes in Mason 2001: "The figure style and decorative motifs of an illustrated scroll dated 1737 and sent by a Jain congregation in Sirohi to an itinerant religious teacher greatly resemble those of this Bhagavata Purana series" (scroll from the Khajanchi collection, published Khandalavala et al. 1960, no. 81). Goswamy believes that the series mighte from Kutch on account of its obvious delight in textiles (Goswamy and Bhatia 1999, p. 189). For other pages from this series see Bautze 1987, p. 65, supplemented by John Seyller in Mason 2001, p. 144, no. 4. Also,pare with two other paintings, one in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2004-149-54) and another in the Brooklyn Museum (78.260.5). Provenance: R. E. Lewis, Inc., San Rafael, California