Page 218 - Himalayan Art Macrh 19 2018 Bonhams

3104
AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A
RAGAMALA SERIES
MURSHIDABAD, LATE 18TH CENTURY
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Image: 9 1/2 x 4 in. (24.3 x 10.1 cm);
Folio:12 1/4 x 6 5/8 in. (31.1 x 16.8 cm)

$6,000 - 8,000
For a closely related series in the collection
of Mrs. D’Arcy Hart, see Skelton,
Murshidabad Painting’, Marg, Vol.X,
1956, nos.4 & 5, p.13. For other ragamala
compositions of the late 18th century in
Lucknow and Murshidabad, see Falk &
Archer, Indian Miniatures in the Indian Office
Library, London, 1981, pp.448-80.

Provenance
H.P. Kraus, Rare Books and Manuscripts,
New York, 1980s

3105
AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAGAMALA
SERIES: GUJARI RAGINI
DECCAN, CIRCA 1740
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Image: 9 3/8 x 5 7/8 in. (24.3 x 13 cm);
Folio: 11 1/4 x 7 3/4 in. (28.9 x 18 cm)

$8,000 - 12,000

Expressive and poignant, this painting centers
on a youthful maiden who has just taken leave
of plucking her tanpura and gestures upward
with her left arm, singing a song of woe due to
the absence of her lover. She laments how her
fastidiously prepared bedchamber above will
go unused. A small fountain bubbles forlornly
in the courtyard while the blazing sun equates
with burning desire.

Other pages of this Deccani series can be
found in various institutions and private
collections, including five in the Rietberg
Museum (see Boner et al., Sammlung Alice
Boner, Zurich, 1994, nos.40-4) and one
published in Masselos et al., Dancing the
Flute, Sydney, 1996, no.199. For a page
formerly in the Seitz Collection, see Seyller,
Mughal and Deccani Paintings, Zurich, 2010,
p.136. A further page was sold at Bonhams,
New York, 11 September 2012, lot 77.

Published
Anna Dallapiccola, Princesses et courtisanes
à travers les miniatures indiennes, Galerie
Marco Polo, Paris, 1978, p.62, no.52

Provenance
Galerie Marco Polo, Paris, 1978
Private Swiss Collection, 1978-2012
Francesca Galloway, London, 2012

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