Page 59 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019

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A FOLIO FROM A RAGAMALA SERIES: NAT RAGINI AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAGAMALA SERIES:
JAIPUR, CIRCA 1750 KAMOD RAGINI
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. JAIPUR, CIRCA 1750
Image: 7 1/2 x 6 3/8 in. (19 x 16.2 cm); Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
Folio: 11 1/2 x 9 in. (29.2 x 22.8 cm) Image: 7 7/8 x 6 in. (20 x 15 cm);
Folio: 11 1/8 x 7 7/8 in. (28.1 x 20 cm)
$5,000 - 7,000
$3,000 - 5,000
Against arching hills of glowing color, warriors battle on elephant- and
horseback, in this unusual full-scale battle scene for a Nat Ragini Adorned with the lotus petals from the river, the lingam radiates before
painting. Another instance of a similar composition from a seperate the maiden and her attendants. In contrast to the scene’s formality
series was produced in Jaipur in the 18th century (Ebling, Ragamala and architectural precision, a monkey leaps between trees below a
Paintings, Basel, 1973, p.37, no.C6). As noted by Ebling ‘It is hard for dynamic stormy sky. Three pages from this ragamala series are in the
the uninitiated viewer of Ragamala paintings to reconcile the concept San Diego Museum of Art (1990.8.851, 1990.8.855 & 1990.8.856).
of female ragini with the male images of battling warriors...While most Another page is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.71.1.42).
ragamala paintings are conceived in a devotional or erotic mood, Nat
visualizes music of a heroic mood.’ Published
Ludwig Habighorst, Blumen – Bäume – Göttergärten, Ragaputra Edi-
Provenance tion, Koblenz, 2011, p.127, fig.97.
Private German Collection
Exhibited
Blumen – Bäume – Göttergärten, Völkerkunde-Museum, Hamburg, 17
March - 27 October 2013.

Provenance
Claude Boisgirard, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 20 March 1996, lot xxxxxx
Private German Collection

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