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A complete series of 36 ragamala illustrations separately mounted, apparently commissioned...

Catalogue reference: Johnson 42

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This record is a file about the A complete series of 36 ragamala illustrations separately mounted, apparently commissioned... dating from 1780.

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Full description and record details

Reference
Johnson 42
Title
A complete series of 36 ragamala illustrations separately mounted, apparently commissioned by Johnson to illustrate the Risalah-i ragamala, a Persian work of which a copy was in Johnson's possession.
Date
1780
Description

A complete series of 36 'ragamala' illustrations separately mounted, apparently commissioned by Johnson to illustrate the 'Risalah-i ragamala,' a Persian work of which a copy was in Johnson's possession. The series was originally bound in red Indian leather with Johnson's bookplate - his arms above a label in Persian dated AH1194/AD1780 with the legend: 'Mumtaz al-daula mufakhkhar al-mulk Richard Johnson bahadur' 'husam-i jang.' The album ran from right to left and was preceded by a list of the pictures in Persian characters. An early note on the left hand fly-leaf described the contents as '36 drawings some of which are very obscene'. In the 1830 catalogue the opinion was reiterated: 'Raga Mala, 36 drawings of which some are excessively obscene and should be destroyed. 4to'.

Held by
British Library: Asian and African Studies
Former department reference
J.42
Legal status
Not Public Record(s)
Language
Not applicable
Physical description
1 Item
Access conditions

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Unpublished finding aids
Toby Falk and Mildred Archer, Indian miniatures in the India Office Library (London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981), 313
Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/0e5db74d-b613-479d-b33d-1b3e21d2d9d4/

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Within the fonds: (British Library) Johnson Album

British Library, Visual Arts, Richard Johnson Collection

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A complete series of 36 ragamala illustrations separately mounted, apparently commissioned by Johnson to illustrate the Risalah-i ragamala, a Persian work of which a copy was in Johnson's possession.