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Lot Essay
This intimate and delicate nocturnal scene depicts a princess and her attendant visiting a Shiva shrine. Kneeling before the sanctum, the princess raises an ārati lamp and rings a bell before a lingam shrine adorned with unguents and bright floral offerings. The quiet ritual, set against the darkness of night, heightens the devotional intimacy of the moment.
The painting is a leaf from a Ragamala series by Fath (Fateh) Chand, illustrating Bhairavi Ragini, a musical mode performed in the early morning with soft and pleasing notes. Bhairavi is a manifestation of the goddess Parvati, the consort of Shiva. The present painting comes from a Ragamala of thirty-six leaves, produced in two equal halves by Faqirullah Khan and Fath Chand. Numerous folios from this manuscript, generally dated between 1740-60 and uniformly surmounted by a blind cartouche and mounted within sprinkled-gold borders and wide floral margins, are recorded in public and private collections. These include: Kakubha Ragini in the British Library (see Falk and Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, 1981, pp. 123-124, 427, no. 201), and Vilaval Ragini in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS.42-1996).
Two further leaves from the same series were published in Maggs Bulletin No. 8, Ragamala Paintings & Eastern Music, February 1965, pls. XXIV–XXV. Another page depicting Gujari Ragini was sold by Simon Ray in 2017 (no. 27). Two additional folios from this manuscript—each with wide floral margins—were sold at Christie’s, London, 25 May 2017: one by Fath Chand (Hindola Ragini), lot 16, and one by Faqirullah Khan (Malavi Ragini), lot 17. Lalita Ragini, formerly in the collection of F. S. Aijazuddin, was sold at Bonhams, New York, 24 September 2021, lot 1235.
Other related leaves include Todi Ragini in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.2004.180), published in Markel and Gude, India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, 2010, p. 242, fig. 19; a Vasant Ragini by Faqirullah Khan in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (2004.45); and a Dipak Raga now in the San Diego Museum of Art (see E. Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd: The Mughal and Deccani Schools, 1973, p. 107, no. 84).
The painting is a leaf from a Ragamala series by Fath (Fateh) Chand, illustrating Bhairavi Ragini, a musical mode performed in the early morning with soft and pleasing notes. Bhairavi is a manifestation of the goddess Parvati, the consort of Shiva. The present painting comes from a Ragamala of thirty-six leaves, produced in two equal halves by Faqirullah Khan and Fath Chand. Numerous folios from this manuscript, generally dated between 1740-60 and uniformly surmounted by a blind cartouche and mounted within sprinkled-gold borders and wide floral margins, are recorded in public and private collections. These include: Kakubha Ragini in the British Library (see Falk and Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, 1981, pp. 123-124, 427, no. 201), and Vilaval Ragini in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS.42-1996).
Two further leaves from the same series were published in Maggs Bulletin No. 8, Ragamala Paintings & Eastern Music, February 1965, pls. XXIV–XXV. Another page depicting Gujari Ragini was sold by Simon Ray in 2017 (no. 27). Two additional folios from this manuscript—each with wide floral margins—were sold at Christie’s, London, 25 May 2017: one by Fath Chand (Hindola Ragini), lot 16, and one by Faqirullah Khan (Malavi Ragini), lot 17. Lalita Ragini, formerly in the collection of F. S. Aijazuddin, was sold at Bonhams, New York, 24 September 2021, lot 1235.
Other related leaves include Todi Ragini in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.2004.180), published in Markel and Gude, India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow, 2010, p. 242, fig. 19; a Vasant Ragini by Faqirullah Khan in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (2004.45); and a Dipak Raga now in the San Diego Museum of Art (see E. Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd: The Mughal and Deccani Schools, 1973, p. 107, no. 84).