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recto Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1995.90
Title
Malasri Ragini (painting, recto), from the Chunar Ragamala (Garland of Melodies) Series
Classification
Manuscripts
Work Type
manuscript folio
Date
c. 1591
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Chunar
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/310634

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
actual: 22.5 x 14.8 cm (8 7/8 x 5 13/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift in gratitude to John Coolidge, Gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr., Anonymous Fund in memory of Henry Berg, Louise Haskell Daly, Alpheus Hyatt, Richard Norton Memorial Funds and through the generosity of Albert H. Gordon and Emily Rauh Pulitzer; formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr.
Accession Year
1995
Object Number
1995.90
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This painting depicts the Malasri Ragini or the Gaund Ragini (mentioned in the caption at the top-right of the painting), which is typically set at night. The moon in the dark, star-studded sky is a fine crescent and appears to be waxing, during the first few days of the bright half of the month. Within a palatial architectural space, a lady alone in a bed chamber scatters lotus petals, preparing a fragrant bed for her beloved. The Malasri Ragini evokes a mood of lonely anticipation and the intense longing for union with the beloved.

This painting is a pictorial metaphor for a raga, a musical phrase that is used as the basis for improvisation, belonging to a Ragamala or “Garland of melodies” series. It belongs to the Chunar Ragamala series, which was painted in Chunar, near Varanasi, in February 1591 by painters of the imperial Mughal atelier. The inscription on the last page of the set, the Kedara Ragini (NMAA, Washington D.C. F1985.2), reveals that “The book Ragamala has been prepared [presented] on Wednesday at noon in the locality of Chunar. The work of the pupils of Mir Sayyid Ali Nadirulumulk Humayunshahi and Khwaja Abdul-Samad Shirin-Qalam the slaves Shaykh Husayn and Shaykh Ali and Shakyh Hatim son of Shaykh Phul Chisthi. Written on the 29th of Rabi’ II of the year 999 [February 24, 1591].” Other folios from the same series are now at the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C., Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi.

Publication History

  • Stuart Cary Welch and Milo Cleveland Beach, Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks Northern Indian Painting from Two Traditions, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1965), p. 58, fig. 5
  • Milo Cleveland Beach, Rajput Painting at Bundi and Kotah, Artibus Asiae Publishers (Ascona, Switzerland, 1974), p. 6; pl. VI, fig. 2; pl. IX, fig. 6 (detail)
  • Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot, India before Europe, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, 2023), pp. 263-264, fig. 7.14

Exhibition History

  • India: From Tribe to Court, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 07/23/1981 - 07/23/1981
  • The Music Room, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/22/1984 - 11/11/1984
  • Paintings for Emperors, Rajs, and Sultans, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 09/19/1987 - 11/21/1987
  • Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks - Revisited: Northern Indian Miniatures from two Traditions, Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/31/1990 - 06/10/1990
  • Indian Harvest: Part 1, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/30/1995 - 01/21/1996
  • Rajasthani Miniatures: The Welch Collection at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, The Drawing Center, New York, 04/16/1997 - 06/07/1997
  • Where Traditions Meet: Painting in India from the 15th-17th Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/05/2003 - 12/07/2003

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu