- Title
- Dhanashri Ragini, First Wife of Dipak Raga, Folio from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)
- Date Made
- circa 1740
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. (20.95 x 13.97 cm); Sheet: 10 5/8 x 7 11/16 in. (26.98 x 19.52 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.81.8.10
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Dhanashri Ragini is the first wife of Dipak Raga in the predominant ragamala (garland of melodies) classification system generally known as the Rajasthani system. The devanagari inscription in the header identifies the melody by the variant spelling of “Dhanasari ragani.” It is a pining melody associated with the afternoon and Autumn (September–November). The melody is personified as a heroine painting her absent lover’s portrait.
Here, a woman is seated against a bolster on a palace terrace painting a portrait of a Rajput prince. Small cups of different colored paint are beside her, as well as a mixing basin and two water flasks. One of the flasks is unusually depicted with a bird-headed terminal. It is perhaps a sprinkler. A water ewer, two water jugs, and a small lota are nearby. A princess or a maidservant sits in front of her. Behind them is a pavilion with an empty bed chamber. The blue sky indicates it is a daytime melody. See its series mate M.71.1.24 and also M.79.191.27.
Additional folios from this dispersed series are in many museums and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (23589 and 23590).
- Selected Bibliography
- Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
