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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2009.114
Title
Two women on a balcony
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
early 18th Century
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Uttar Pradesh, Benares
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/330733

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Ink on paper
Dimensions
15.2 x 11.4 cm (6 x 4 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[H.C. Mehra], Calcutta (November 16, 1953); purchased by L.C. and P. Wyman, American couple; gift to Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury (1960s); purchase by Kathy Burton Jones [Norman Hurst], Hurst Gallery, 53 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge (2004); gift to Harvard Art Museum (2009).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Katherine Burton Jones
Accession Year
2009
Object Number
2009.114
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This drawing features two women in an elegantly appointed balcony. The kneeling nayika figure sits on a platform tending a flower arrangement, as her attendant waves a flywhisk over her head. The women’s features­wide eyes, highly arched brows, and short rounded noses­reflect traits of Benares regional art. This is most likely a practice sketch of a ragini, a feminine musical mode expressing longing for an absent lover. A short-hand, abbreviated line of Devanagari script may be interpreted to indicate this is a representation of the Kunkini Ragini.

Publication History

  • Stages of Depiction: Indian Drawings: 17th-19th Centuries, auct. cat., Hurst Gallery (Cambridge, 2006), pp 43, cat. 18

Exhibition History

  • Stages of Depiction: Indian Drawings: 17th-19th Centuries, Hurst Gallery, 03/18/2006 - 04/15/2006

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu