Page 191 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art
P. 191

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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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