An illustration from a Ragamala series: Raga Kedara son of Megha, India, Bilaspur, circa 1700-20

The following eight lots are from a dispersed Ragamala album that originally belonged to the Royal Collection of Mandi. The delicate lines and inventive color palette in these illustrations point to an admixture of Deccani and Pahari traditions.
The iconography of Ragamalas, lit. 'Garland of Ragas'  was specified by Mesakarna, a court priest of Rewa who wrote his Ragamala in 1570. The author enumerated a visual and an audio counterpart to each of the Ragas and Raginis that formed his system. Ragamalas were a particularly popular subject in Pahari ateliers and the artists drew inspiration from both the suggested iconography as well as the literal meaning of the name of the Raga, thereby imbuing these paintings with a variety and inventiveness which is particularly illustrated in the present lot.
In the present illustration a woman prepares to hand a huqqa to a courtier seated within a pavilion, the verso inscribed in Devanagari and Takri identifying the subject.
This depiction however bears little relationship to Mesakarna's text. A more typical illustration would include an ascetic with a lute accompanied by other musicians and disciples.
For other illustrations from this series see Sotheby's London, May 23, 2006, lots 86-94.