The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

A female figure standing in a landscape holding a four-stringed “khuuchir” and a lotus

A female figure standing in a landscape holding a four-stringed “khuuchir” and a lotus

c. 1590
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The four strings of the woman’s khuuchir would have been made from silk.

Description

Standing over flowering sprigs, holding a lotus like a scepter, the figure seems to magically impart fertility to a desert. In pan-Indian religious iconography (system of visual symbols that identify a figure), the lotus is held by the goddess of good fortune, prosperity, and abundance, who is frequently associated with ideal kingship. The stringed instrument recalls the Indian goddess of learning and music, but here it is of a Mongolian type, as is the feather in her crown. Her garments are reminiscent of those worn by biblical and classical figures in European engravings. This painting combines Indian, European, and Mongolian references.
  • April 24, 1996
    (Sotheby’s, London, England Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 24 April 1996 sale, lot 40)
    –2013
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim Collection
    2013–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 200, figure 4.60, pp. 312–313, cat. no. 16.
  • Nature Supernatural (Indian Painting rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2023-March 3, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=A female figure standing in a landscape holding a four-stringed “khuuchir” and a lotus|url=false|author=|year=c. 1590|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.311