Gouache on paper, depicting two princesses in the foreground of an elaborately decorated house, animals and plants in the distance, the reverse with black inscriptions.
Note:
A ragamala (garland of ragas) is a unique pairing of paintings and poems that capture the essence of the classical Indian musical system. Each raga and ragini ('wife' of a raga) is associated with a time of day and season to evoke a particular mood. Varari Ragini should be played in the early morning during the rainy season. The image perfectly embodies that vision. The heroine stretches languidly as she awakens to the freshness of dawn, a lamp still shining in the foreground. Her attendant stands ready with a garland and fan. Peacocks, synonymous with the rains, strut across the top of the palace pavilion while a pair of red-faced rhesus monkeys, depicted in a manner typical of central India, cavort in the crisp air. The flat bold colors, schematic architecture and foliage show that this painting came from a workshop in central India. It's size and the unusual silver stripe in the border indicate that it, along with #22, was once part of the same ragamala as two pages in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1968-12-3 and 1969-262-2).