Woman holding a vina and flower under a tree, with a deer, attracted by the music, in front of her

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Deccani school

• Provenance

  At least 1943-1946

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964), New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1946

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See the file copy object list of the “List of Objects Contemplated for Purchase by the Freer Gallery of Art,” dated July 11, 1946, p. 1, copy in object file. This object is annotated with the incoming loan number “51.43,” indicating that the object was transferred from Heeramaneck Galleries to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration in 1943.

  Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY owned and operated by Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (née Arvine) (1910-1993). The Heeramaneck’s were dealers and collectors of Pre-Columbian and Asian art. Nasli Heeramaneck began his career as a dealer in Paris during the 1920s and relocated to New York, NY in 1927. In 1939, Nasli married Alice Arvine, an American portrait painter from New Haven, CT. Nasli founded Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY by 1928. He began to retire in 1964 and liquidated some of the gallery’s stock at auction at Parke-Barnet, New York in 1964 and 1965. Many objects from the Heeramaneck collection were either purchased or donated to American museums. Items from their collection may be found in The British Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of New Delhi; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and Yale University.

  [2] See object file for copy of the Heeramaneck Galleries invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated August 31, 1946, and marked approved on July 11, 1946. Object is described as, “Indian drawing of Todi Ragini, Woman with deer under a tree, 17th century, Rajput School.”

  Research updated November 17, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from India (October 14, 1978 to May 15, 1979)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964)

• Origin

  Deccan plateau, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1670s, 1660s

• Name

  Heeramaneck Galleries

• Place

  Deccan plateau, India

• Topic

  Trees, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Animals, Music, Flowers, Woman, Vina

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Drawings