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Kuntala Raga thumbnail 2
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Kuntala Raga

Drawing
ca. 1700 - ca. 1710 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Kulu (made)
Bahu (made)

This painting shows a prince at a dovecot feeding the birds. It comes from a ragamala or 'garland of ragas', a series of pictorial depictions of the various musical modes. An inscription in Takri, the script used in the Punjab Hills of northern India, identifies the mode illustrated here as kuntala raga, 'son' of dipakeda raga.

Object details

Categories
Paintings
Animals and Wildlife
Royalty
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
Object type
Drawing
TitleKuntala Raga (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Paper
Paint
Painted
Brief description
Painting, prince at a dove-cote feeding birds, ragamala, kuntala raga, Kulu or Bahu, ca. 1700-1710
Physical description
A ragamala painting in opaque watercolour on paper, illustration to the musical mode kuntala raga, a prince at a dove-cote feeding birds.
Dimensions
  • Height: 207mm
  • Width: 209mm
  • Image within innermost painted borders height: 159mm (maximum)
  • Image within innermost painted borders width: 159mm (maximum)
24/07/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013
Content description
Kuntala raga, a prince at a dove-cote feeding birds.
Style
Pahari
Marks and inscriptions
  • (in Takri characters, on the upper border)
    Translation
    'Kutala raga, son of Dipaka'
    Transliteration
    'kutala raga dipake da putra'
  • (On the reverse.)
    Translation
    'Kutala Raga, son of Dipaka, second sheet. 2'
    Transliteration
    'kutala raga dipake da putra dua patara. 2'
Gallery label
(2000)
A PRINCE AT A DOVE-COTE FEEDING BIRDS
Illustration of the musical mode Kuntala Raga
Opaque watercolour on paper
Kulu or Bahu, Punjab Hills
c.1700-1710

IS 73-1953
From the collection of Sir William Rothenstein

The painting comes from a Ragamala or 'garland of ragas', a series of pictorial depictions of the various musical modes. An inscription in Takri, the script used in the Punjab Hills, identifies the mode illustrated here as Kuntala Raga, 'son' of Dipakeda Raga. In this series the six major ragas are each ascribed five 'wives' - raginis - and eight 'sons'.
Object history
From the collection of Mr. Michael Rothenstein; IS.46 to 73-1953 were purchased for £300.
Production
Archer (1973) attributes paintings of this series to Kulu. Goswamy and Fischer (1992) attribute them to painter(s) active at Bahu.
Subjects depicted
Prince
Doves
Summary
This painting shows a prince at a dovecot feeding the birds. It comes from a ragamala or 'garland of ragas', a series of pictorial depictions of the various musical modes. An inscription in Takri, the script used in the Punjab Hills of northern India, identifies the mode illustrated here as kuntala raga, 'son' of dipakeda raga.
Bibliographic references
  • Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills : a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting / by W. G. Archer ; foreword by Sherman E. Lee. London :Delhi: Sotheby Parke Bernet ;Oxford University Press, 1973 Number: 0856670022 p. 332, cat. no. xvii
  • For information on the series this painting is from, see: GOSWAMY, B.N. and Eberhard Fischer, Pahari Masters, Artibus Asiae Publishers Supplementum XXXVIII and Museum Rietberg, Zürich, 1992, pp.92 and 76-81
  • Topsfield, Andrew, An introduction to Indian Court Painting, H.M.S.O., London, 1984, 0112903835 p. 40, cat. no. 33.
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.73-1953

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Record createdMarch 10, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96534/kuntala-raga-drawing-unknown/
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