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Lot Essay
The visual iconography suggested by the medieval prist Mesakarna has Shri Raga born from the navel of the earth, dressed in white robes and adorned with jewellery. The music of this raga is compared to the sound of an elephant (Ebeling, 1973, p.76). In the Pahari tradition, Shri Raga is depicted as a lord seated on a throne being saluted by an elephant, as in the present painting and in a comparable drawing illustrated in Ebeling, ibid., p.275. Another comparable illustration of Shri Raga, painted in Basohli circa 1700, depicts an enthroned prince with an attendant holding a flywhisk to his left, the prince resting his hand on a baby elephant standing to his right (Tandan, 1983, fig.45). The large yellow bees attracted to the flowers in our painting are identical to those depicted in another illustration from the same ragamala series, Kamala Ragaputra of Dipak Raga , which was formerly in the collection of Claudio Moscatelli and sold in these Rooms, 25 May 2017, lot 22.
This painting is part of a well-known ragamala series from a dispersed album which was once in the Mandi royal collection. Along with ragamala illustrations, the album also included a Dasavatara (Ten Incarnations of Vishnu) series. The original place of production of the album, whether Chamba or Bilaspur, has been debated by scholars. After a recent study of illustrations from the Moscatelli collection, noting a particular style of Chamba turban in some folios, Catherine Glynn attributed the album to the court of Chamba (Glynn and Skelton, Dallapiccola, 2011, p.34). J. P. Losty notes a heavy influence of Mughal and Deccani painting, the prevalence of vertical format ragamalas from Bilaspur, the style of rendering the eyes of figures almost three-dimensionally, amongst other evidence, and argues for Bilaspur as the origin for the album (Losty, 2017, pp.226-227). For further folios from this album, see Losty, ibid., nos. 60, 62, pp. 228-229; Glynn, Skelton, Dallapiccola, 2011, nos.7-9, pp.52-57; and McInerney, Kossak, Najat-Haidar, 2016, nos. 45-48, pp.142-149.
For folios from this series which have sold in these Rooms, see 2 May 2019, lot 140; 25 May 2017, lots 22-23; 26 May 2016, lots 61-62; 25 April 2013, lot 184; Christie’s, South Kensington, 10 June 2013, lots 2-7; Christie’s, New York, 18 September 2013, lot 357A.
This painting is part of a well-known ragamala series from a dispersed album which was once in the Mandi royal collection. Along with ragamala illustrations, the album also included a Dasavatara (Ten Incarnations of Vishnu) series. The original place of production of the album, whether Chamba or Bilaspur, has been debated by scholars. After a recent study of illustrations from the Moscatelli collection, noting a particular style of Chamba turban in some folios, Catherine Glynn attributed the album to the court of Chamba (Glynn and Skelton, Dallapiccola, 2011, p.34). J. P. Losty notes a heavy influence of Mughal and Deccani painting, the prevalence of vertical format ragamalas from Bilaspur, the style of rendering the eyes of figures almost three-dimensionally, amongst other evidence, and argues for Bilaspur as the origin for the album (Losty, 2017, pp.226-227). For further folios from this album, see Losty, ibid., nos. 60, 62, pp. 228-229; Glynn, Skelton, Dallapiccola, 2011, nos.7-9, pp.52-57; and McInerney, Kossak, Najat-Haidar, 2016, nos. 45-48, pp.142-149.
For folios from this series which have sold in these Rooms, see 2 May 2019, lot 140; 25 May 2017, lots 22-23; 26 May 2016, lots 61-62; 25 April 2013, lot 184; Christie’s, South Kensington, 10 June 2013, lots 2-7; Christie’s, New York, 18 September 2013, lot 357A.