Lakshmana at the hermitage, folio from a Ramayana

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Kulu or Bilaspur school

• Description

  Painted in an eccentric palette of lemon yellow, warm pink, and mauve, this scene represents an ashram. The two young disciples Rama and Lakshmana appear twice: once with their teachers on the painting's left and again on the left by the gateway in the woven brush/bramble fence. A tiger and water buffalo lap water from the pond.

• Inscriptions

  Inscribed on the top, right and bottom sides of the red border in takri script; Inscribed on the reverse in nagari: Ara[n]ya, 25; right side and an upside down.

• Provenance

  Raja Raghbir Singh, Shangri, Kullu Valley, India.

  1970

  Sale, London, Sotheby’s, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, July 15, 1970, lot no. 164: “Lakshmana Arriving at a Hermitage by a Lake.”

  From 1970 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased at auction, “Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures” Sotheby’s, London, July 15, 1970, lot no. 164, “Lakshmana Arriving at a Hermitage by a Lake.” [1]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [2]

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in July 1970 from Sotheby’s, two years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [2] See Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Raja Raghbir Singh

  Sotheby's (London)

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Kulu or Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1710s, 1680s

• Name

  Singh, Raghbir, Sotheby's (London), Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn

• Place

  Kulu, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Ramayana, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Lakshmana, Ashrams, Tiger, Water buffalo

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings