Asavari Ragini from a Ragamala (garland of melodies)

Object Details

• Patron

  Rao Raja Bhoj Singh (reign 1585-1607)

• Artist

  Shaykh Husain

  Shaykh Ali

  Shaykh Hatim

• Court

  Bundi Court

• School/Tradition

  Rajput school

• Label

  This painting belongs to a ragamala (garland of ragas, or musical modes), which forms a unique genre that may be termed "pictorial music." Musical modes are visualized as male ragas or female raginis. They correspond to varying emotional states and are associated with specific times of day or seasons of year.

  Here, a dark-skinned woman sits alone on a rocky outcrop where scorpions play, beside a lotus pond teeming with fish, ducks, and geese. In testimony to her harmony with the natural world, the woman holds a snake in one hand and offers it a morsel, while several other snakes descend from the surrounding trees and move out of the foliage toward her. The inscription above the painting identifies her as Asavari ragini, a muscial mode of lonely longing that very likely originated some fifteen hundred years ago among tribal snake charmers.

• Provenance

  1591-?

  Rao Raja Bhaj Singh (reign 1585-1607), commissioned from the artists Shaikh Hasan, Shaikh Ali, and Shaikh Hatim in India [1]

  ? - at least between 1967-1968

  Ownership information unknown

  At least between 1967 -1968 - ?

  Sital Das, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  ?-1984

  Ownership information unknown

  1984

  Sale, London, England, Christie's, sale #3022, "Islamic, Indian, South-east Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures, and Works of Art," November 22-23, 1984, lot 181 [3]

  1984-1985

  Michael Goedhuis, Ltd. (established 1980), London, England, purchased at November 22-23, 1984, Christie's Sale, London, England on behalf of the Freer Gallery of Art [4]

  From 1985

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Michael Goedhuis, Ltd. [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See Christie's, "Islamic, Indian, South-east Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures, and Works of Art" [auction catalogue], (London: Christie's, November 22-23, 1984), lot 181, illustrated (recto and verso).

  [2] See unaddressed letter from Milo Beach, dated February 18, 1986, copy in object file. Beach states, “I saw the pages [F1985.2 and F1985.3] in India in 1967-68, when the owner allowed me to photograph the works. Returning to India in 1971 and attempting to see them again, I was told that they were no longer available and my distinct impression was that they had left India. I do not know of anyone who saw the paintings anywhere after my 1967-68 visit.”

  See also Kanta Talukdar’s newspaper article from “The Telegraph” (London: March 16, 1986), copy in object file. Kanta Talukdar reported that the owner was Sital Das.

  Sital Das is a jeweler and collector in Delhi, India.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See object file for copy of Michael Goedhuis, Ltd. invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, undated (ca. December 1984), and marked approved on December 12, 1984.

  Michael Goedhuis, Ltd. in London, England was established in 1980. Michael Goedhuis began his professional involvement in the art world in 1975 when he joined Jacob Rothschild’s firm Colnaghi (established 1760), specializing in Persian, Mughal and Islamic art. After establishing his own firm, Goedhuis expanded his dealing activities to include Indian, Japanese, and Chinese art. In 1981, Goedhuis purchase the name “Colnaghi Oriental” from Rothchild and utilized the name in advertisements for his firm.

  [5] See note 4.

  Research updated September 11, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Natural World in Indian Painting (September 4, 1996 to May 17, 1997)

  South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)

  The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Sital Das

  Michael Goedhuis, Ltd. (established 1980)

• Origin

  Chunar, Uttar Pradesh state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s

• Name

  Das, Sital, Goedhuis, Michael

• Place

  Chunar, Uttar Pradesh state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Hada dynasty, Art, Goose, Fishes, Music, Yogini, Ragamala, Snakes, Ducks

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings