Two women on a balcony
early 18th Century
Description
This drawing features two women in an elegantly appointed balcony. The kneeling nayika figure sits on a platform tending a flower arrangement, as her attendant waves a flywhisk over her head. The women’s featureswide eyes, highly arched brows, and short rounded nosesreflect traits of Benares regional art. This is most likely a practice sketch of a ragini, a feminine musical mode expressing longing for an absent lover. A short-hand, abbreviated line of Devanagari script may be interpreted to indicate this is a representation of the Kunkini Ragini.
Dimensions
15.2 x 11.4 cm (6 x 4 1/2 in.)
Provenance
[H.C. Mehra], Calcutta (November 16, 1953); purchased by L.C. and P. Wyman, American couple; gift to Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury (1960s); purchase by Kathy Burton Jones [Norman Hurst], Hurst Gallery, 53 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge (2004); gift to Harvard Art Museum (2009).
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