Before Rama and Lakshmana, Sugriva grieves for the death of Bali, folio from a Ramayana

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Malwa school

• Description

  Rama and Lakshmana kneel on a striped dhuri, against a red background. On the right Sugriva and a monkey attendant emerge from a grove of palm trees. Sugriva kneels, head down and arms outstretched.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: sugriva ne preeti tilya ramju ski jo tuma ek van so saton tad bhedo to vali mari Samarth ho

  In a different hand: yeh pano pachpan ko (this is the fifty-fifth leaf)

  Sugriva learned from Rama how to kill Bali with one arrow and how to kill seven with one arrow- Rama says if you kill seven with one arrow then you can kill Bali …trans: Shagufta Parekh

  Devanagari numbers: 55

  Devanagari numbers: 55

• Provenance

  To 1979

  Stuart Cary Welch (1928-2008), Warner, New Hampshire, Cambridge, Massachusetts [1]

  To 1979

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York, New York [2]

  From 1979 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York, New York in May 1979 [3]

  From 2001 to 2008

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

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [4]

  Notes:

  [1] It is unknown when Stuart Cary Welch purchased this painting.

  [2] According to information from Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Stuart Cary Welch (1928-2008)

  Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd.

  Ralph (1914-2001) and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Malwa, Madhya Pradesh state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1630s, 1620s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, McInerney, Terence, Welch, Stuart Cary

• Place

  Madhya Pradesh state, Malwa, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Ramayana, Art, Animals, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Lakshmana, Monkeys, Sugriva

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings