Kausa Ragaputra of Malkos, from a Ragamala (c. 1750): Art, History and Details

Kausa Ragaputra of Malkos, from a Ragamala (c. 1750) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A courtly couple holding tame hunting birds projects a mood of romance and a connection with nature. The Pahari region of the northwest Himalayas was famous for its native hunting birds that were prized among the nobility throughout South Asia. Kausa Ragaputra is also the name of a mode, or key, in classical Indian music. Improvised pieces of music played in this mode accord with the imagery. This painting is part of a set showing scenes associated with how a listener feels when hearing corresponding musical performances. The whole set is called a Ragamala, or “garland of melodies.”

Object facts

• Title: Kausa Ragaputra of Malkos, from a Ragamala
• Date: c. 1750
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 18 x 14.8 cm (7 1/16 x 5 13/16 in.); Paper: 22.4 x 18.7 cm (8 13/16 x 7 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2001.111

A detail from the museum

This painting was part of a larger manuscript and is the first from the series to enter the CMA's collection.

Collection credit

Gift of Natesan Galleries, Ltd., London

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.