ARTS OF INDIA

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
61
AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES : BHASKAR PUTRA
OF HINDOL RAGA
CHAMBA, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1700
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the prince raises his hand
towards the sun, holding green twigs, a lady draws milk from a cow, the cow
and her calf tethered to a post, under trees, on yellow background with shining
sun at top, with red borders and white and black rules, the reverse inscribed in
devanagari and takri scripts
8Ω x 6ºin. (21.7 x 15.8cm.)
£12,000-15,000 $18,000-21,000
€15,000-19,000
PROVENANCE:
Royal Mandi Collection (No 2463).
Ragamala or the ‘Garland of Ragas’ is the visual depiction of musical modes.
Each Raga belongs to a family : Bhairav, dedicated to Shiva ; Malkos, Hindol,
Megh, Deepak and Sri. Ragamala paintings are bringing together poetry and
classical music. Each raga’s essence is captured and symbolised by a hero or
heroine, a colour or a scene, and thus a mood, and has subsets, identifed as
family members such as the raginis, or wives of the ragas. They thus identify
at what time of the year or of the day the musical mode must be played and
the deity they are dedicated to.
62
AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: HINDOL RAGA
CHAMBA, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1700
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, a prince sits on a large
swing, leaning against a bolster, he holds a rosary whilst attended by ladies,
a marble pavilion behind, the top of cypress trees appearing behind the wall,
with red borders and black and white rules, the reverse with identifcation
inscription in black devanagari and takri scripts, mounted
8Ω x 6ºin. (21.6 x 16cm.)
£10,000-12,000 $15,000-17,000
€13,000-15,000
PROVENANCE:
Royal Mandi Collection (No 2463).
Hindol Raga is an early morning mode assigned to Spring.
This painting and the preceding lot (lot 61) are part of a Ragamala series
that was once attributed to the Pahari court of Bilaspur. However, Catherine
Glynn in a new study of other illustrations from this same series has
re-attributed them to the court of Chamba (Glynn, C., Skelton R. and
Dallapicolla AL., Ragamala, Paintings from India from the Claudio Moscatelli
Collection, cat. 14 and 15, Dulwich Pictures Gallery Catalogue, London
2011 p.34). Both paintings bear a stamp on the verso from the Royal Mandi
Collection. This Ragamala series was apparently rebound there in 1841. Three
further folios from the same series are in the Claudio Moscatelli Collection
(op.cit., nos. 7, 8 and 9, pp. 52-57). Nine further paintings from the series,
attributed then to Bilaspur, were sold at Sotheby’s New York, 29 March
2006, lots 164-173.
For another illustration from the same ragalama series, see the preceding lot.
40
Opposite: Lot 64 (detail)