Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Room 33 | Mughal India 1500-1900 gallery

Discover the paintings and decorative arts of the Mughal period - the most powerful and lasting of the Islamic dynasties in India.

Mughal India gallery

Galleries : 1 object

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Tribal lady charming snakes, illustrating the musical mode Asavari Ragini

  • Description

    Ragamala (‘Garland of Ragas’) was one of the most popular genres of court painting in the Mughal period. The spirit or essence of each raga or musical mode was evoked in poetic verses and depicted in paintings, according to long established conventions. The mode Asavari, usually performed in the early morning hours, is depicted as a dark-skinned tribal beauty, who lives alone in remote mountain forests where her presence charms the snakes down from the trees. This painting is from a dispersed ragamala series painted in an unusual, expressive style which combines Rajasthani and Deccani features. Seven of the 21 surviving pages from this series are in the Ashmolean [EA1992.63, EA1991.154, EA1999.22, EA2001.32, EA2001.33, EA2012.230].

  • Details

    Series
    Garland of Ragas
    Associated place
    AsiaIndiaDeccan north Deccan (place of creation)
    Date
    c. 1675
    Material and technique
    gouache with gold on paper
    Dimensions
    page 25.9 x 22.1 cm (height x width)
    painting 18.4 x 15.1 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by the Simon Digby Memorial Charity, 2012.
    Accession no.
    EA2012.229

Glossary (2)

Ragamala, Ragini

  • Ragamala

    Raga (feminine ragini) are musical modes, often represented by compositions of ladies, lovers, warriors, animals or gods, in series of Ragamala ('Garland of Ragas') paintings, a very popular artistic genre in north India and the Deccan c. 1500 - 1800.

  • Ragini

    Raga (feminine ragini) are musical modes, often represented by compositions of ladies, lovers, warriors, animals or gods, in series of Ragamala ('Garland of Ragas') paintings, a very popular artistic genre in north India and the Deccan c. 1500 - 1800.

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

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