A girl playing the tambur while her companion listens

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Bikaner school

• Description

  This delicately drawn and colored painting depicts two slim princesses seated on a terrace on a cotton cloth laid over a floral carpet. Both are dressed in fine transparent muslin. One plays a vina and the other listens entranced as she inclines her head towards her friend, resting it on her hand.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: inscribed in Nagari script: "saheli bhadi che" (girlfriend……).

• Label

  Scenes of female friendship begin during the period of Jahangir (1605 - 27). They may have been specifically commissioned by noblewomen, many of whom were powerful patrons of the arts. The gatherings were often represented taking place in palace gardens and on terraces, as seen in Two women seated on a terrace, surrounded by attendants and musicians, F1907.213. According to Steven Kossak, the style and finish of Bikaner paintings during the reign of Maharaja Karan Singh (r. 1632-69), strongly suggests that painters trained in the Mughal atelier joined the Bikaner workshop.

  This is a lovely drawing that resonates with Mughal siyah kalam images of women as well as with the nine Bikaner paintings from the Benkaim collection that were selected to create a concentration in a Rajput school that drew heavily upon Mughal prototypes.

• Provenance

  ?-December 13, 1965

  Ownership information unknown

  December 13, 1965

  Sale, London, Sotheby’s, "Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," December 13, 1965, lot 34 [1]

  December 13, 1965- December 11, 1968

  Ownership information unknown

  December 11, 1968

  Sale, London, Sotheby’s, "Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," December 11, 1968, lot 19 [2]

  December 11, 1968-2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), purchased at December 1968, Sotheby’s Sale, London [3]

  2001-2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim [4]

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchase and partial gift from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See “Catalogue of Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," (London: Sotheby’s & Co., December 13, 1965), lot 34, p. 8. Described as “Two girls sitting on a terrace which is decorated with a rich carpet, one listening while the other plays to her on a dholak, in the foreground various garden flowers (122mm. x 90mm.) [Provincial Mughal, probably Bikaner. 2nd half of 17th century].” The object is not associated with a specific seller and is listed under “Other Properties.”

  According to Debra Diamond, Curator for South and Southeast Asian Art, on March 17, 2023, this information was provided by Catherine Glynn Benkaim prior to acquisition. Ralph Benkaim kept all the Sotheby’s catalogues at his home and annotated them.

  [2] See “Catalogue of Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," (London: Sotheby’s & Co., December 11, 1968), lot 19, p. 11, illustrated. Described as “A girl playing the tambur.” The object is not associated with a specific seller and is listed under “Other Properties [/] Mughal Miniatures” section.

  [3] See notes by Debra Diamond, Curator for South and Southeast Asian Art, titled “A girl playing the tambur while her companion listens,” May 2019, pp. 91-92, copy in object file.

  Ralph Benkaim was an entertainment lawyer from Los Angeles who started collecting Indian and Islamic art in 1961.

  [4] See note 3.

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim is a collector and scholar in the field of Indian painting. Ms. Benkaim met her husband, Ralph Benkaim, in the 1970s when she was the curator of Indian painting at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The couple were married 1979 and together they amassed a collection of Indian paintings, which included examples from all genres. They collected objects for their collection through dealers and auctions. Objects from their collection may also be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Williams College Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, among others.

  [5] See “Appendix B Bill of Sale” and “Appendix C Donor Substantiation Letter,” dated January 2, 2018, copy in object file.

  Research updated February 10, 2023

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001)

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Bikaner, 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

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1650s, 1660s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn

• Place

  Bikaner, Rajasthan state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Music, Woman, Tambura

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings