A forlorn lover, fragment from a Rasamanjari

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to the workshop of Golu, son of Devidasa

• Court

  Nurpur school

• Label

  This lotus-eyed woman with henna-tipped fingers is one of the 384 types of female lover described in the Rasamanjari (Bouquet of Rasa), a poetic classification of lovers (nayakas and nayikas) and love situations. Composed c. 1500 by Maithili Brahmin Bhanadutta, probably in Ahmednagar, Deccan, its Sanskrit verses had a huge impact on Hindu court painting and the development of the Hindi literary tradition (ritikal).

  She appears to be an experienced nayika (heroine) waiting for her lover because she is fully adorned in jewelry, and sits topless by a bed. Bhanadutta describes such a nayika:

  She put on all her jewelry,

  Perfumed her thick head of hair,

  And at her bedside had them place areca nut and betel leaf.

  And the bedroom, when the woman

  entered, her body all aglow,

  was a darkened overcast day

  set ablaze by golden ketaki flowers.

• Provenance

  ?

  Ownership Information Unknown

  ?-1947

  Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877 1947),

  method of acquisition unknown [1]

  1947-1972

  Rama Coomaraswamy (1929 2006), Greenwich, Connecticut, ownership transferred after the death of his father, Ananda Coomaraswamy. [2]

  1972-2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914 2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Rama Coomaraswamy in May 1972. [3]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [4]

  From 2018

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

  Notes:

  [1] See notes from Catherine Glynn Benkaim, April 27, 2015, copy in the object file. Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and moved to England for his education in 1879. He attended university in London, graduating with degrees in geology and botany in 1900. He then returned to Ceylon and pursued a career in mineralogy, earning a doctorate in 1906. He was active from 1907 until his death in 1947 in Needham, Massachusetts. In 1910, however, his interests shifted to Indian and Sri Lankan culture, and he moved to America to serve as curator of Indian art and as a researcher of Indian and Middle Eastern art for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

  Ralph (1914-2001) and Catherine Glynn Benkaim were collectors of Indian painting. Mr. Benkaim was an entertainment lawyer from Los Angeles who started collecting Indian painting in 1961 and Dr. Benkaim is a scholar in the field of Indian painting. Mr. and Ms. Benkaim met in the 1970s when Ms. Benkaim was the curator of Indian painting at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The

  couple were married 1979 and together they created a fine collection of Indian paintings, which included examples from all genres. The collected object 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.

  [4] See notes 1 and 2.

  [5] See “Appendix B Bill of Sale” and “Appendix C Donor Substantiation Letter,” dated January 2, 2018, copy in object file. From 2018-2023, the object the object was part of the National Museum of Asian Art’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection and on March 21, 2023, the work was internally transferred to the National Museum of Asian Art Collection.

  Research updated April 3, 2025

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Masters of Indian Painting (April 28, 2011 to January 8, 2012)

  A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections (April 12, 1973 to November 11, 1973)

  Art of the Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections (March 4 to March 31, 1968)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947)

  Rama Coomaraswamy (1929-2006)

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh 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, 1720s

• Name

  Coomaraswamy, Ananda K., Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Coomaraswamy, Rama

• Place

  Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings