AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE EARLIEST KSHEMAKARNA RAGAMALA SERIES: SARANGA PUTRA OF RAGA MEGHA

SUB-IMPERIAL MUGHAL, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1610-20

Details

AN ILLUSTRATION TO THE EARLIEST KSHEMAKARNA RAGAMALA SERIES: SARANGA PUTRA OF RAGA MEGHA
SUB-IMPERIAL MUGHAL, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1610-20
Opaque pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, Vishnu and Lakshmi on Garuda flying through a grove, 3ll. of black devanagari script above identifying the raga, on wide buff margins, numbered '81' in the lower right corner
Painting 5 x 8in. (12.6 x 20.3cm.); folio 8 ¾ x 11 7/8in. (22.4 x 30.1cm.)

Literature

L. Habighorst, Blumen – Bäume – Göttergärten, Koblenz, 2011, fig.82, p.115
L. Habighorst, Der Blaue Gott, Koblenz, 2014, fig.35, p.82

Exhibited

Mittelrhein-Museum, Koblenz, 2014

Brought to you by

Louise Broadhurst

lbroadhurst@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2603

Lot Essay

Kshemakarna’s verse describes Saranga Putra as the dark-skinned Vishnu, holding his attributes in his four arms, riding on Garuda with his wife seated on his left (Ebeling, 1973, p.78). The painting also depicts Indra, the king of gods, with folded hands seated in the clouds above and a devotee in the grove further behind.

For further discussion and two other folios from the same ragamala series in this sale, please see lots 134 and 136.

More from Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets

View All