Object Details
- School/Tradition
- Kulu or Bilaspur school
- Description
- Painted in an eccentric palette of lemon yellow, warm pink, and mauve, this scene represents an ashram. The two young disciples Rama and Lakshmana appear twice: once with their teachers on the painting's left and again on the left by the gateway in the woven brush/bramble fence. A tiger and water buffalo lap water from the pond.
- Inscriptions
- Inscribed on the top, right and bottom sides of the red border in takri script; Inscribed on the reverse in nagari: Ara[n]ya, 25; right side and an upside down.
- Provenance
- Raja Raghbir Singh, Shangri, Kullu Valley, India.
- 1970
- Sale, London, Sotheby’s, Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, July 15, 1970, lot no. 164: “Lakshmana Arriving at a Hermitage by a Lake.”
- From 1970 to 2001
- Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased at auction, “Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures” Sotheby’s, London, July 15, 1970, lot no. 164, “Lakshmana Arriving at a Hermitage by a Lake.” [1]
- From 2001 to 2018
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [2]
- From 2018
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [3]
- Notes:
- [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in July 1970 from Sotheby’s, two years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim.
- [2] See Acquisition Justification Form, object file, Collections Management Office.
- [3] See note 2.
- Collection
- National Museum of Asian Art Collection
- Previous custodian or owner
- Raja Raghbir Singh
- Sotheby's (London)
- Ralph and Catherine Benkaim
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim
- Credit Line
- Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art
- ca. 1690-1710
- Accession Number
- S2018.1.10
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (painting): 18.4 × 29.2 cm (7 1/4 × 11 1/2 in)
- H x W (overall): 21.6 × 32.1 cm (8 1/2 × 12 5/8 in)
- Origin
- Kulu or Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh state, India
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- tiger
- water buffalo
- Ramayana
- India
- Lakshmana
- ashram
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
- Record ID
- fsg_S2018.1.10
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye340c596ba-9def-4326-9650-a44d3b3d0c06
