Malashri Ragini from a Ragmala series
date: label: Date
content: 1640
notes: label: Court
content: Malwa Court
label: School/Tradition
content: Central Indian school
label: Label
content: A ragamala (garland of ragas, or musical modes) is a unique genre of painting that may be termed "pictorial music". It represents a series of musical modes that correspond to emotional states generally associated with specific times of day or seasons of the year. Musical modes may be male ragas or female raginis, and each is expressed in terms of human love.
label: Label
content: This painting of the Malasri ragini depicts Malasri plucking petals from a lotus flower while her attendant maids fan her with a fly whisk. The Hindi couplet written on the reverse says that Malasri and her maids smell of lotus blossoms and dream of their lovers even in the daytime. The Malasri ragini is a musical mode suitable for all hours.
label: Label
content: The painting is intended to evoke the emotional state aroused during a performance of the Malasri ragini,when one experiences an intense longing for union with the beloved- a metaphor for union with god.
label: Provenance
content: ?-1913
label: Provenance
content: Unidentified individual, Delhi, India, method of acquisition unknown [1]
label: Provenance
content: 1913-1924
label: Provenance
content: Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), purchased from Unidentified individual in Delhi, India [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1924
label: Provenance
content: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, purchased from Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Ananda Coomaraswamy, “Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Part V, Rajput Painting” [book], (Cambridge: Harvard university Press, 1926), p. 71. The publication indicates that this Ragamala series was previously in the collection of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Coomaraswamy’s collection “originally contained twenty-three of the series, and these were obtained [by him] in Delhi [in 1913] […].”
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was an art historian, curator, and collector of South Asian art. Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Coomaraswamy grew up in England where he received a doctorate in geology. Coomaraswamy was active as a geologist until 1910, when he became interested in the arts of Ceylon and India. He became deeply committed to introducing Western audiences to Indian art. In 1917, he accepted a curatorial post at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he remained until his death.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See Commission of Fine Arts list of objects recommended for purchase, dated October 8, 1924, marked as approved. Object is described as, “Indian Painting, Malasri Ragini,” Rajput, about 1675.”
label: Provenance
content: The object is part of the museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.
label: Provenance
content: Research updated July 22, 2024
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)
label: Exhibition History
content: South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)
label: Exhibition History
content: The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)
label: Exhibition History
content: Hindu and Buddhist Art (January 28, 1981 to September 24, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Indian Art (January 1, 1963 to January 28, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Art, Gallery 8 (July 15, 1958 to January 1, 1963)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings, Gallery 7 (January 10, 1945 to October 2, 1947)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, South Asian Paintings, Gallery 4 (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Persian Art (March 14, 1931 to May 5, 1933)
label: Exhibition History
content: Near Eastern Pottery and Persian Painting (May 2, 1923 to March 14, 1931)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947)
place: label: Origin
content: Madhya Pradesh state, Malwa, India
topic: label: Topic
content: tree
label: Topic
content: music
label: Topic
content: lotus
label: Topic
content: ragamala
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: heroine
label: Topic
content: longing
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1924.7
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 19.7 x 14.8 cm (7 3/4 x 5 13/16 in)
label: Style
content: Malwa style