Raga Nand Malahar, folio from a Ragamala

Object Details

Artist

Attributed to Master of the Jagged Water's Edge

School/Tradition

Mewar school

Label

This dreamlike painting captures the magical mood of the monsoon and the bhava (emotion) of raga Nand Malhar. At the top, a strip of watery clouds above a wine-dark sky conveys the season of the monsoon (malhar). Beneath the clouds, on a terrace surrounded by lushly flowering trees, three celestial women with multi-colored wings worship a shivalingam. The scene seems suspended in time. Only the clouds, the pond, and the hands of two of the celestial beings, appear to move. On the left, the water in the pond ripples as the bathing nymph (apsara) takes a handful to splash her face. At center, the apsara delicately reaches forward to adorn the lingam with a petal that she has just plucked from a lotus.

The domed shrine, covered in the dazzling white stucco characteristic of the royal architecture of Udaipur, includes a golden stele (or plaque) that represents Shiva's wife, the goddess Parvati; immediately outside the shrine, a golden icon of Nandi, Shiva's faithful mount, is in his characteristic position of facing his lord.

The painting can be identified as the fairly obscure raga Nand Malhar because of its similarity to a Kotah painting in the collection of Isabella and Vicky Ducrot, which is inscribed as Raga Nand Malhar. The Ducrot imagery includes a Shiva linga with an icon of Parvati to its left, peris with large wings, and dark monsoon clouds.

Provenance

To 1990

Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York, New York [1]

From 1990 to 2018

Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), and Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York, New York in March 1990 [2]

From 2018

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

Notes:

[1] According to information from Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

[2] See note 1.

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

Collection

National Museum of Asian Art Collection

Exhibition History

A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur (November 19, 2022 to May 14, 2023)

Previous custodian or owner

Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd. (active 1990-2013)

Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

Catherine Glynn Benkaim

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

ca. 1720

Accession Number

S2018.1.75

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions

H x W (painting): 21.6 × 16.2 cm (8 1/2 × 6 3/8 in)

H x W (overall): 24.8 × 19.7 cm (9 3/4 × 7 3/4 in)

H x W x D (exhibition frame): 53.3 × 43.2 × 4.4 cm (21 × 17 × 1 3/4 in)

Origin

Mewar, Rajasthan state, India

See more items in

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Topic

Shiva

woman

garden

India

South Asian and Himalayan Art

Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

pool

Record ID

fsg_S2018.1.75

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye31437d5e8-7b50-481e-8661-54a17d1a0a56