Kaccheli Ragini, from a Ragamala

With its wide-eyed heroine seated beneath undulating creepers, head-butting rams, and brooding clouds, the painting has a wild energy. Its farouche quality is heightened by its enigmatic subject: a woman sitting outside a shrine with her hand on the rump of a ram butting another ram.

Historical period(s)
ca. 1710
School
Kulu or Bahu school
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (painting): 16.2 × 15.5 cm (6 3/8 × 6 1/8 in) H x W (overall): 21 × 21 cm (8 1/4 × 8 1/4 in)
Geography
India, Himachal Pradesh state, Bahu or Jammu
Credit Line
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S2018.1.11
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Painting

Keywords
India, ragamala, Ralph and Catherine Benkaim collection, sheep
Provenance

To 1967
Maggs Bros., London, England. [1]

From 1967 to 2001
Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Maggs Bros., London, England in April 1967. [2]

From 2001 to 2018
Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [3]

From 2018
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [4]

Notes:

[1] Information obtained from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

[3] See note 1.

[4] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Catherine Glynn Benkaim
Ralph and Catherine Benkaim
Maggs Bros founded 1894

Description

With its wide-eyed heroine seated beneath undulating creepers, head-butting rams, and brooding clouds, the painting has a wild energy. Its farouche quality is heightened by its enigmatic subject: a woman sitting outside a shrine with her hand on the rump of a ram butting another ram.

Inscription(s)

Inscribed in white Takri on upper border: kachhelī raganī dīpake dī bharaj; black Takri following.

Verso center top: black Takri-kachhelī raganī dīpake dī bharaj / pehla patra (first folio); center of page in dark black ink is nagari no. 1; center bottom in pencil in English: 160 x 156 mm, Kulu 1700, 18th century; A 2/67 a500

Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
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