Object Details
- School/Tradition
- Bikaner school
- Description
- This delicately drawn and colored painting depicts two slim princesses seated on a terrace on a cotton cloth laid over a floral carpet. Both are dressed in fine transparent muslin. One plays a vina and the other listens entranced as she inclines her head towards her friend, resting it on her hand.
- Inscriptions
- Verso: inscribed in Nagari script: "saheli bhadi che" (girlfriend……).
- Label
- Scenes of female friendship begin during the period of Jahangir (1605 - 27). They may have been specifically commissioned by noblewomen, many of whom were powerful patrons of the arts. The gatherings were often represented taking place in palace gardens and on terraces, as seen in Two women seated on a terrace, surrounded by attendants and musicians, F1907.213. According to Steven Kossak, the style and finish of Bikaner paintings during the reign of Maharaja Karan Singh (r. 1632-69), strongly suggests that painters trained in the Mughal atelier joined the Bikaner workshop.
- This is a lovely drawing that resonates with Mughal siyah kalam images of women as well as with the nine Bikaner paintings from the Benkaim collection that were selected to create a concentration in a Rajput school that drew heavily upon Mughal prototypes.
- Provenance
- ?-December 13, 1965
- Ownership information unknown
- December 13, 1965
- Sale, London, Sotheby’s, "Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," December 13, 1965, lot 34 [1]
- December 13, 1965- December 11, 1968
- Ownership information unknown
- December 11, 1968
- Sale, London, Sotheby’s, "Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," December 11, 1968, lot 19 [2]
- December 11, 1968-2001
- Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), purchased at December 1968, Sotheby’s Sale, London [3]
- 2001-2018
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim [4]
- From 2018
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchase and partial gift from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [5]
- Notes:
- [1] See “Catalogue of Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," (London: Sotheby’s & Co., December 13, 1965), lot 34, p. 8. Described as “Two girls sitting on a terrace which is decorated with a rich carpet, one listening while the other plays to her on a dholak, in the foreground various garden flowers (122mm. x 90mm.) [Provincial Mughal, probably Bikaner. 2nd half of 17th century].” The object is not associated with a specific seller and is listed under “Other Properties.”
- According to Debra Diamond, Curator for South and Southeast Asian Art, on March 17, 2023, this information was provided by Catherine Glynn Benkaim prior to acquisition. Ralph Benkaim kept all the Sotheby’s catalogues at his home and annotated them.
- [2] See “Catalogue of Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures," (London: Sotheby’s & Co., December 11, 1968), lot 19, p. 11, illustrated. Described as “A girl playing the tambur.” The object is not associated with a specific seller and is listed under “Other Properties [/] Mughal Miniatures” section.
- [3] See notes by Debra Diamond, Curator for South and Southeast Asian Art, titled “A girl playing the tambur while her companion listens,” May 2019, pp. 91-92, copy in object file.
- Ralph Benkaim was an entertainment lawyer from Los Angeles who started collecting Indian and Islamic art in 1961.
- [4] See note 3.
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim is a collector and scholar in the field of Indian painting. Ms. Benkaim met her husband, Ralph Benkaim, in the 1970s when she was the curator of Indian painting at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The couple were married 1979 and together they amassed a collection of Indian paintings, which included examples from all genres. They collected objects for their collection through dealers and auctions. Objects from their collection may also be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Williams College Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, among others.
- [5] See “Appendix B Bill of Sale” and “Appendix C Donor Substantiation Letter,” dated January 2, 2018, copy in object file.
- Research updated February 10, 2023
- Collection
- National Museum of Asian Art Collection
- Previous custodian or owner
- Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001)
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- ca. 1660
- 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
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (painting): 12.4 × 8.9 cm (4 7/8 × 3 1/2 in)
- H x W (overall): 25.8 × 20 cm (10 3/16 × 7 7/8 in)
- Type
- Painting
