Object Details
Artist
Nasiruddin
Court
Mewar Court
School/Tradition
Rajput school
Description
The lord wearing a red turban and white four-pointed jama, holding a flower in one hand while attending to a Saivite musician with a vina who kneels before him, and his companion behind him with a pair of hand-cymbals. Another attendant waves a cauri above the lord. Shoes and utensils are in the foreground. A tasseled canopy appears in the center of the red-walled chamber; a cupola and turrets rise against a starry sky. The border is pale yellow with a red rule and, at the top, bears the inscription. This is a page of a set of 42.
Inscriptions
vicitra sihāsana madhya varttā kaṃtā pavitrābhiḍa[?] tīti
śubhraṃ
kurvanu kathā nārada-tubarābhyāṃ
śrī rāga rāja kathitā munaṅdrai
śrī rāga pūraṣa rāga 35
Splendidly enthroned, of peerless beauty and lovely as
the autumn moon, he sits hearing stories from Narada
and Tumbaru. By the great sages he is called Sriraga King.
[raga 35]
The Sanskrit is corrupt and the meaning is inconclusive;
the modified translation is given in Ebeling, Klaus.
the modified translation is given in Ebeling, Klaus.
Label
One of the six chief musical modes, Shri Raga (shri means "honored" and raga is a musical mode) is personified in this painting as a prince seated on his throne listening to two musicians. Each raga is associated with a particular season, time of day, and emotion: here, it is winter in the late afternoon, and the emotion evoked is love.
This Ragamala set is among the earliest inscribed and dated Rajput works. It was painted at Chawand in Mewar. This small town lies south of Chittor Fort, which had been seized by imperial Mughal troops in 1568.
Provenance
To 1971
Doris Wiener Gallery, New York [1]
From 1971 to 1991
Carter Burden, New York purchased from Doris Wiener Gallery, New York in 1971 [2]
1991
Sale, New York, Sotheby’s, The Carter Burden Collection of Indian Paintings, March 27, 1991, lot no. 6: “A Page from the “Chawand” Ragamala. Sri Raga: a Lord Seated on a Throne Listening to Musicians” [3]
From 1991
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC purchased at auction, “The Carter Burden Collection of Indian Paintings,” Sotheby’s, New York, March 27, 1991, lot no. 6, “A Page from the “Chawand” Ragamala. Sri Raga: a Lord Seated on a Throne Listening to Musicians” through Andrew Kahane, Ltd., Oriental Art [4]
Notes:
[1] See invoice from Doris Wiener Gallery, Inc., dated November 24, 1971 to Carter Burden, copy in object file, Collections Management Office.
[2] See note 1.
[3] See Sotheby’s, New York auction catalogue, The Carter Burden Collection of Indian Paintings, from the sale of March 27, 1991.
[4] See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office. See also correspondences with Andrew Kahane, Ltd., Oriental Art in the object file, Collections Management Office.
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History
A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur (November 19, 2022 to May 14, 2023)
Body Image (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)
Masterworks of Indian Painting (December 13, 1997 to June 13, 1998)
South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)
Previous custodian or owner
Doris Wiener Gallery (active at least 1962-2011)
Carter Burden
Sotheby's (New York)
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Date
1605
Period
Sisodia dynasty, Reign of Maharana Amar Singh
Accession Number
F1991.1
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Painting
Medium
Opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 20.2 × 18.7 cm (7 15/16 × 7 3/8 in)
H x W x D (exhibition frame): 53.3 × 43.2 × 4.4 cm (21 × 17 × 1 3/4 in)
Origin
Chawand, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India
Related Online Resources
Google Arts & Culture
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
flower
music
vina
Sisodia dynasty (861 - 1947)
ragamala
India
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1991.1