Kamod Ragini

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to the Sirohi Master (active ca. 1670-1690)

• School/Tradition

  Sirohi school

• Inscriptions

  Recto: in devanagari script: kamod ragini 28

  Recto: in devanagari script: kamod ragini 28

• Label

  The character of court painting in Rajasthan owes as much to local, non-imperial styles as it does to the Mughal court. This is brilliantly demonstrated in the Sirohi ragamalas that were produced around 1690 in southwest Rajasthan for non-court patrons. This exuberant and luminous Kamod Ragini is from the first and finest of the sets.

  In a hilly landscape, two women bring offerings to a shrine, one of whom pauses to feed two peacocks. An orange-tinged sky suggests early evening, the time of day in which Kamod is traditionally performed. The composition and palette are precisely calculated: The playful rectangles evoking architectural forms in the lower registers, the red window set squarely into the middle of a yellow hillside, and the peacock tail, banana leaf and temple spire that jut beyond the borders are signs of a master of abstraction.

  The style is rooted in pre-Mughal tradition, particularly its bold use of red, strong color contrasts, the modulating contour line that conveys the weight of bodies, and the squarish heads of the women.

  Raga (Sanskrit, color or passion) is the term for a classical music mode, a set framework for improvisation. Having originated in the first millennium, ragas were systematized and classified during the thirteenth through sixteenth century, they were classified into ragamalas, meaning garlands of musical modes. A common system recognized six raga husbands, each "married" to five ragini wives for a total of thirty-six "families." Families of musical modes sometimes included sons or ragaputras as well. By the fifteenth century, ragas had become associated with specific moods, times, seasons, affective properties, deities, lovers, and heroes. Around 1590-1620, illustrated ragamala series became a favorite subject for Rajput patrons, as well as for some Mughals, such as Abd-ur Rahim, patron of the Freer Ramayana and the Laud Ragamala. Specific iconographies were developed for depicting each mode. These formulae lent themselves to variations, which were sometimes dependent on region.

  Illustrated ragas evoke mood and engender feeling, as do musical compositions. But the connection seems to be indirect. Although some connoisseurs of music may have internally "heard" a composition when viewing its image, ragamalas were probably more broadly valued for their poetic and pictorial pleasures. The commission of a ragamala series would also have been understood as a sign of a patron's cultivated sensibility.

• Provenance

  To 1967

  Kumar Sangram Singh, Thakur of Nawalgarh [1]

  From 1967 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), purchased from Kumar Sangram Singh 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] It is well known in the field of Indian art history that Kumar Sangram Singh, Thakur of Nawalgarh, had the entire manuscript in the 1960s; prominent art historians viewed it in his Jaipur residence.

  [2] According Catherine Glynn Benkaim, it was purchased December 1967 from Kumar Sangram Singh, Jaipur, who had the whole manuscript.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

  Kumar Sangram Singh (Thakur of Nawalgarh)

• Origin

  Sirohi, 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

  1690s, 1660s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Singh, Kumar Sangram

• Place

  Rajasthan state, Sirohi, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Peacock, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Twilight, Ragamala, Woman

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings