AN ILLUSTRATION TO A RAGAMALA SERIES: THE KEDAR RAGINI
Possibly Bilaspur or Mankot, Northern India, 18th century

Opaque pigments on paper, the vertical composition depicting the musical mode of the Kedar Ragini, part of the Shri Raga, portraying a female musician holding a rudra veena (stick zither) on her left shoulder, playing for two ascetics or sadhus seated in front of a white palace, the first reclining on a large bolster and wearing his matted dreadlocks into a bun on the back of his head, the latter wearing a long loose pink vest and red shawl, holding a rosary necklace in his hand, the scene set within black rules and bright red borders, the recto with a faint purple-coloured collection stamp and a strip of English laid paper with notes in sepia ink, 19.5cm x 17cm.