The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 20, 2023

Sitar

c. 1850

Eastern India, Bengal or Bangladesh

Gourd and wood with pigment, ivory, and bone; copper alloy: frets; iron alloy: strings (with one modern copper replacement)

Overall: 95.2 x 15.3 cm (37 1/2 x 6 in.)

The Charles G. King, Jr. Collection. Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King, Jr. 1918.346

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Many paintings of Indian court life depict female musicians holding and playing this kind of lightweight stringed instrument.

Description

The stringed instrument known as the sitar usually provided the central sound for the musical performances that were a constant feature of court life in India. The sitar could then be accompanied by percussion, voice, and other supporting instruments. In Raja Deen Dayal’s nearby photograph Maharaja of Rewa in Prayer, a musician strums a sitar in order to please the deities on the royal altar. The improvised compositions are played in a mode, or key, that correlates to the time of day and season of the year.

Provenance
?–1918
Ralph King [1855–1926], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1918–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
"Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 8/9 (1918): 82-85. Mentioned: p. 82 www.jstor.org
D. S. M. "Exhibition of Musical Instruments." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 9 (1921): 134-43. Mentioned: pp. 134-137 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Exhibition of the Month: Music in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2, 1945-February 4, 1946).

Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1918.346