Court lady singing and playing the vina

Cleveland Museum of Art

Court lady singing and playing the vina

Muhammad Rizavi HindiLinkedCulture matchlcp-b49d80e62beb

Date
c. 1760
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Culture
India, Mughal, 18th century
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
170883

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Her mouth open slightly in song, the woman’s hennaed fingers strum a three-string vina, an Indian musical instrument with a resonator made from a gourd. Music was an essential component of courtly entertainment, along with the drinking of wine and the appreciation of poetry, paintings, and jewels. On the verso, the first two lines in Persian read: Once again, Iraqi broke his vows: From the cup of love he became intoxicated and ecstatic. The excerpt from the mystic poet Jami is more of a pious injunction: Until you are bold enough to take to the seas, You will not reap spiritual benefits from your inner heart. Unless you pitch your tent next to the spiritual guide, You will not enjoy him to the fullest. When the mouth is open, and teeth and tongue are showing, she is singing.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
Provenance
?-1849: Sir Charles Forbes, 7th Baronet [1773-1849], Bengal, London, and Scotland, by descent to his great-grandson, Colonel Sir John Forbes | ?-1962: Colonel Sir John Stewart Forbes [1901-1984], Baronet, DSO, DL, Allargue House, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, consigned to Sotheby's London for sale | December 10, 1962: (Sotheby's, London, Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, lot 23) | 1962-2001: Ralph Benkaim [1914-2001], Beverly Hills, CA, by descent to his wife Catherine Benkaim | 2001-2013: (Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 2013-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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