AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: THE TODI RAGINI
Deccan, Central India, mid to late 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the vertical composition depicting the typical setting and arrangement for the Todi Ragini, part of the Hindola Raga, portraying the lovesick heroine in the wilderness next to a river, resting against a tree and playing her sitar with a male and female deer as her only audience, the animal pair stressing the value of companionship and union both of which the heroine is deprived, a city skyline in the distant background, the composition set within black rules and gold borders, the recto with notes and numerals in pencil and black pen, 24.7cm x 18cm.

For a similar, though earlier example, please see Sotheby's London, 26 April 2017, lot 96.