Suite Name: Ragamala Media & Support: Opaque watercolor on paper Creation Date: mid 18th century Creation Place/Subject: India State-Province: Rajasthan Court: Bundi School: Rajasthani Display Dimensions: 9 1/2 in. x 5 7/8 in. (24.13 cm x 14.92 cm) Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection Accession Number: 1990.686 Collection: The San Diego Museum of Art Label Copy: Power & Desire, 04/00

She is taking care over her dress so that her lover will be pleased when he sees her. He is already pleased, watching her prepare to meet him. This situation is derived from a Radha-Krishna theme in which the lover-gods mischief reflects the all-seeing nature of god. Here, adapted to an earthly couple, it is a voyeurs delight, delicately done.

There is a complex play of gazes in this painting. The lady approaches the mirror with the expectation of her own pleasure, which turns to blushes when she sees her lover watching. He catches her face in the mirror, as she catches his. The maid admires her mistress, as maids must, but she can see the lover too, and perhaps she holds the mirror just so to let her lady know.

Ovtober 2005

Domains of Wonder

The heroine of this poetic interlude was in the process of getting dressed after her bath when a breeze kicks up and blows aside a curtain to reveal a man watching her. She sees him in the mirror being held for her by her handmaid, and she instinctively draws up her knees and covers her breasts, while simultaneously leaning in closer to get a better look. Rajput patrons delighted in idealized scenes that evoke piquant emotions, such as this mix of surprise, embarrassment, and newly kindled excitement.