AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A MARKENDEYA PURANA SERIES: CANDIKA AND KALI PREPARE TO ATTACK SUMBHA'S ARMYGULER, EARLY 19TH CENTURY Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper. Image: 5 3/8 x 8 1/4 in. (13.7 x 20.9 cm); Folio: 6 3/8 x 9 1/8 in. (16 x 23 cm) The Markendeya text is probably one of the oldest Puranas in Hinduism. The text's literary style and content, wherein the early chapters read like a supplement to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, has led scholars to suggest it is an earlyposition that likely followed the epic. Some of the original drawings, attributed to the Nainsukh family, from which this series wasposed are in the Mittal Collection (John Seyller and Jagdish Mittal, Pahari Drawings , Hyderabad, 2013, nos. 23-28). For another example, see Christie's, New York, 21 March 2018, lot 346. Provenance: Mandi Royal Collection German Private Collection