Walters Ms. W.669, Album of Indian miniatures and Persian calligraphy

W.669

Album of Indian miniatures and Persian calligraphy

Muraqqaʿ

Vernacular: مرقع

This is an album (muraqqaʿ) compiled in the late thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE, or possibly later. It contains nineteen Deccani paintings and four pages of shikastah calligraphy (fols. 3b, 7b, 8a, and 9b), one of which is dated 1211 AH / 1796 CE (fol. 3b). The paintings, which date to the late twelfth century AH / eighteenth CE or thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE, come from a ragmala series attributable to the Deccan. A ragmala is a visualization of a musical mode or melody. This album contains a mix of visualizations of ragas (male musical modes) and raginis (female musical modes considered to be the wives of the male musical modes). The codex was formerly in an accordion format, and the multicolor flexible cloth hinges on the leaves are still visible. It was later rebound in a brown goatskin binding with a central lobed oval.

Late 12th century AH / 18th CE -- 13th century AH / 19th CE

India (Deccan)

Album

Historical

The primary language in this manuscript is Persian.

Foliation: 13

20.5 cm wide by 29.5 cm high

13.5 cm wide by 21.0 cm high

fols. 1b - 13a:

1. Title: Muraqqaʿ
2. Hand note: Written in shikastah calligraphy (fols. 3b, 7b, 8a, and 9b)
3. Decoration note: Nineteen Indian Rajput-style miniatures; borders of various colors; gold frames

Upper board outside:

1. 
2. Title: Binding
3. Form: Binding
4. Label: This light brown leather binding has a green onlaid central oval.

fol. 1b:

1. 
2. Title: Nata ragini
3. Form: Illustration
4. Label: This ragini is known in some sets as Sindhu ragini.

fol. 2a:

1. 
2. Title: Karnata ragini (Kanada ragini)
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 2b:

1. 
2. Title: Sri raga
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 3a:

1. 
2. Title: Megha raga
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 3b:

1. 
2. Title: Shikastah calligraphy
3. Form: Calligraphy page
4. Label: This page shows shikastah calligraphy after the model of Mīrzā Ḥasan, dated Iṣfahān, Ramadan 1211 AH / 1796 CE.

fol. 4a:

1. 
2. Title: Todi ragini
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 4b:

1. 
2. Title: Asavari ragini
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 5a:

1. 
2. Title: Female performing a ritual at night with a full moon
3. Form: Illustration
4. Label: The identification is unclear on this page.

fol. 5b:

1. 
2. Title: Khambhavati ragini
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 6a:

1. 
2. Title: Khambhavati ragini
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 6b:

1. 
2. Title: Malavakausa raga (Malakausika, Malakausa, Malkos raga)
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 7a:

1. 
2. Title: Dipaka raga (Dipak)
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 7b:

1. 
2. Title: Shikastah calligraphy
3. Form: Calligraphy page

fol. 8a:

1. 
2. Title: Shikastah calligraphy
3. Form: Calligraphy page

fol. 8b:

1. 
2. Title: Bhairava raga
3. Form: Illustration
4. Label: This is possibly Vasanta ragini.

fol. 9a:

1. 
2. Title: Madhumadhavi ragini
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 9b:

1. 
2. Title: Shikastah calligraphy
3. Form: Calligraphy page

fol. 10a:

1. 
2. Title: Vasanta ragini (Vasant)
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 11a:

1. 
2. Title: An Indian woman, holding a fan, at a pond
3. Form: Illustration
4. Label: The identification is unclear on this page.

fol. 11b:

1. 
2. Title: Gauri ragini (Gaudi ragini)
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 12a:

1. 
2. Title: Lalita ragini
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 12b:

1. 
2. Title: Hindola raga
3. Form: Illustration

fol. 13a:

1. 
2. Title: Malava ragini
3. Form: Illustration
4. Label: The identification is uncertain on this page.

The binding is not original.

Light brown leather (no flap); green onlaid central oval

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest

Gude, Tushara Bindu. "Between Music and History: Ragamala Paintings and European Collectors in Late Eighteenth-Century Northern India." PhD diss., University of California Los Angeles, 2009.

Pal, Pratapaditya. Ragamala Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1967.

Ebeling, Klaus. Ragamala Painting. Basel: Ravi Kumar, 1973.

Dahmen-Dallapiccola, Anna Libera. Ragamala-Miniaturen von 1475 bis 1700. Wiesbaden: Harassowitz, 1975.

Waldschmidt, Ernst, and Rose Leonore Waldschmidt. Miniatures of Musical Inspiration in the Collection of the Berlin Museum of Indian Art, vol. 2. Berlin: Museum fur Indische Kunst, 1975.

Falk, Toby, and Mildred Archer. Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library. London; Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981.

Principal cataloger: Gacek, Adam

Catalogers: Landau, Amy; Smith, Sita

Editor: Bockrath, Diane

Conservators: Jewell, Stephanie; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Barrera, Christina; Emery, Doug; Herbert, Lynley; Noel, William; Simpson, Shreve; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.; Valle, Chiara

The Walters Art Museum

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