Saraswati, folio from a Goddess series

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Wajid (active late 17th century)

• School/Tradition

  Sawar school

• Label

  This otherworldly painting centers upon a pale goddess dressed in white who is seated on a pink-tipped white lotus that hovers in an indeterminate space. Two massive red poppy plants in full bloom and bud, ultimately based on European botanical drawings that were adopted by Mughal artists and from there by Mewar artists and from there by a painter in Sawar, flank the goddess. The background is a solid field of rich chocolate brown.

• Provenance

  To 1967

  Nowlakah, Calcutta [1]

  From 1967 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), purchased from Nowlakah, Calcutta in December 1967 [2]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001

  From 2018

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

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting from Nowlakah, Calcutta in December 1967, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records, as relayed by Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  SUCHITRA MATTAI: LABOR AND LOVE (September 20, 2024 - January 12, 2025)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

  Nowlakah

• Origin

  Sawar, Rajasthan 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

  1700s, 1670s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Nowlakah

• Place

  Sawar, Rajasthan state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Saraswati

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings