Johnson 33,2, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 26 and 29

J.33,2, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 26 and 29

Eight ‘ragamala’ illustrations.

Farrukhabad, c.1780.

Richard Johnson Collection. Purchased 1807.

Gouache with gold; yellow panels above with lines of Hindi verse; trimmed red borders.

Note: These eight miniatures have been supplied to make up the otherwise incomplete series of Album 33, of which the other twenty-six illustrations are from a Jaipur ‘ragamala’ set of c.1760-70. The illustrations are painted in the Farrukhabad style and have been pasted onto the red borders, suggesting that they cover pictures from the original series which may have been stained or damaged beyond repair. The iconography does not conform to the Ordinary system followed in the rest of Album 33. The Hindi verses written above include a ‘chaupai’ and ‘doha’ in the same way, but the script is less elegant; the subjects are identified but not numbered. Included are some ‘uparagas’ or minor melodies which fall into no systematic classification; this, coupled with the strange iconography, suggests that the artists lacked a grasp of the current ‘ragamala’ tradition.