A LONG NARRATIVE SCROLL EXTOLLING EKADASIVRATA, NEPAL, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY

pigment on cloth, of long rectangular form, the story related in two tiers of continuous narrative, the characters depicted amongst mountains and Himalayan buildings, lines of newari script running along the length of each band

57 x 360cm

This is an exceptionally long scroll, and it is notable that a similarly dated example of the same subject is made physically shorter by arranging the narrative in three tiers (see Pratapaditya Pal, 'Art of the Himalayas: Treasures from Nepal and Tibet from the Zimmerman Collection, New York 1991, no.51). As Pal notes, the story is related to justify the important Hindu rite performed on the eleventh day of each fortnight involving fasting and worship. An earlier scroll, depicting the extolling of Manavinayaka, in a less 'Indian' style, with the different scenes more clearly divided, is in the Norton Simon Museum (inv. no. F.1983.27.P).