Indian Pichvai or Devotional Shrine Hanging

Dark-faced central figure flanked by attendants under a moonlit banana grove.

This pichvai or devotional shrine hanging is from Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India, and dates to the late 19th century. It is pigment & cotton. Painting a pichvai was considered a sacred act, a form of sewa or complete devotion to Krishna, and details such as the sequence of episodic borders were treated with care. Cloth painted with a standing figure framed by a glowing gold panel, women in pink and orange dress at each side, and large banana leaves behind. Floating figures and a pale moon fill the dark top, while lotuses fill the bottom edge. It is 35 inches wide and 54 high.

A full house, and every guest dressed for it.