Pahari paintings – about bright colours, charcoal and brushes of squirrels’s hair

The Wereldmuseum in Leiden has a fine collection of 134 drawings and paintings from the Punjab Hills (today Himachal Pradesh in India), commonly referred to as ‘Pahari miniature paintings’, and made from the 17th to the 19th century. Pahar in Hindi  means ‘from the hills’ and refers to the lower Western foothills of the Himalayas. The drawings and painting covers a wide range of themes like Hindu epics, vernacular poetry, portraits of rulers, and historical figures. They illustrate the history and traditions of the region and showcases Indian techniques and crafts.

An artist used brushes, pigments, inks and paper. Usually he made the brushes themselves, with animal hair such as goat, camel and cats. The finest brushes made from the hair of a squirrel's tail were used to draw very thin details such as the facial traits.

Paintings receiving substantial patronage (princes or rulers) were embellished with shell gold. Gold leaves were gradually rubbed with the fingers into a dish, adding a small amount of water and honey. Once the gold particles have dissolved, the mixture is washed, left to settle, sieved, and stored in a shell. Gold paint was sometimes engraved or stippled to reflect light and give texture to the surface. Drops of lead or zinc white were also applied to give relief to some details, particularly in jewellery.

The development of a composition is illustrated by a series of drawings from the Ramayana epic made in Kangra around 1800 and now preserved in Wereldmuseum Leiden. The artist first drew a rough outline using a charred twig. He then drew the secondary outline in red or yellow ink. Finally, he drew the final contours in black ink with a firm line. He used this last line as a basis for applying the colors. Opaque white paint was used to conceal flaws in the lines, which were then corrected with black ink.

Sometimes colour names were inscribed on the figures and served as indications for the future execution of the final painting. A detail of the drawing of ‘Krishna fighting the elephant Kuvalayapida at Kamsa’s court’ shows the colour annotations on the figures, indicating the colour to be used to paint the clothes.

he collection are also pieces known as ‘master drawings’, which were kept in the studio and served as a reference for the creation of finished paintings by future generations of painters. Final works can be found today in other collections, and it's fascinating to see the differences and similarities between the two versions.

Finally, delicate details such as jewellery, clothing patterns and facial features were added with the finest brushes, and the borders left blank throughout the process were painted or decorated.