Page 190 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art

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AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAGAMALA SERIES:
DHANASRI RAGINI
NORTH INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, BILASPUR, 1730-1740
Folio 10Ω x 7in. (26.6 x 17.8cm.)
Image 8¡ x 5in. (21.3 x 12.8cm.)
$10,000-15,000
PROVENANCE:
Formerly in the collection of Dr Alma Latifi, CIE, OBE (1879-1959), acquired
between the 1930s and 1950s, by repute.
Private collection, London.
The present painting is identified by inscription as Dhanasri Ragini, although it
deviates from the typical depiction, that of a forlorn woman drawing her lover.
Rather Dhanasri sits against a cushion, caressing a rabbit on her lap as she
listens to her sakhi. The women are painted in cleanly modeled forms, precise
design and sharply delineated faces.
Additional paintings from this series are at the Rietberg Museum (published
B. N. Goswamy, Jeremiah P. Losty and John Seyller, A Secret Garden: Indian
Paintings from the Porret Collection, 2014, pp. 178-181, cat. nos. 90 and 91), the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (acc. nos. 2017.24, 2017.25,and 2017.26.) and
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc. no. M.81.57) . Two additional
paintings also formally in the Alma Latifi collection, Sandhuri Ragini and
Vinoda Ragini, are illustrated in W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab
Hills, London, 1973 nos. 31i and ii, p 179. Archer notes that the series is of
significance to Bilaspur painting, as it bridges between the early and later
styles of Bilaspur painting.

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