{
"data": {
"id": 314219,
"accession_number": "2018.93",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Madhava plays his vina before five women drawing water from a well, folio 3 from a Madhavanala-Kamakandala, c. 1720. Northern India, Pahari kingdoms. Gum tempera and gold on paper; image: 19.1 x 28.6 cm (7 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.); page: 21.7 x 30.9 cm (8 9/16 x 12 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2018.93",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Madhava plays his vina before five women drawing water from a well, folio 3 from a Madhavanala-Kamakandala",
"creation_date": "c. 1720",
"creation_date_earliest": 1715,
"creation_date_latest": 1725,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Northern India, Pahari kingdoms"
],
"technique": "gum tempera and gold on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art",
"type": "Painting",
"measurements": "Image: 19.1 x 28.6 cm (7 1/2 x 11 1/4 in.); Page: 21.7 x 30.9 cm (8 9/16 x 12 3/16 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"page": {
"height": 0.217,
"height_inch": 8,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5625,
"width": 0.309,
"width_inch": 12,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.1875
},
"image": {
"height": 0.191,
"height_inch": 7,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5,
"width": 0.286,
"width_inch": 11,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.25
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "Takri number: 3; four lines of Takri script; (in English) Roman numeral: X -K. Iswari Singh of Sirmur; number 188. caupai. calio kataka k\u0101mavat\u012b des\u0101. dharati dhase bh\u0101ra sahe na ses\u0101. j\u0101 d\u012bna gay\u012b to peyano k\u0101\u012b. d\u0101sa kayi digapat\u012b barahara\u012b. tar\u012b k\u012b khur\u012b so khe\u012b ud\u0101\u012b. dharat\u012b suraga eka ho j\u0101\u012b. j\u012bha r\u0101j\u0101 ki sima ja\u012b. le gaja danda mil\u0101\u012b so \u0101\u012b. m\u0101dhavanala \u0101ge kar l\u012b\u0101. j\u012bh\u012b eha prema pasar\u0101 kiy\u0101. doh\u0101. r\u0101j\u0101 b\u012bkramase\u1e43na val\u012b uhane s\u0101na baj\u0101e. k\u0101mavat\u012b ke n\u012bkata \u012bha nad\u012b ta\u1e6da utari jv\u0101e.",
"inscription_translation": "One morning Madhavanala went out to bathe by the well. After performing ablutions, he put a tilak (sectarian mark) on his forehead and began strumming upon his lute. The womenfolk of Pushpavati who had arrived at the well to fetch water felt so entranced on hearing Madhava\u2019s singing they droppedthe pitchers from their heads on the ground. Madhava captivated the ladies of Pushpavati with his music.",
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": 1
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 680516,
"title": "Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories",
"description": "Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 18-August 23, 2026).",
"opening_date": "2026-01-18T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim Collection",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1973\u20132018",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "2018\u2013",
"sortorder": 2
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The vina is an Indian stringed instrument with gourd attached on each end as a resonator.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "One morning, Madhava sits beneath a tree to play his vina (stringed instrument). At this hour, women come to a well to draw water. Time unfolds across the figures of the five women. Two pull their full water pots from the well. One stops abruptly, hearing his musical strains. Two have become so entranced that they drop and break their pots in surprise and listen with delight.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60483028"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2018.93-madhava-plays-his-vi"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 102-109, no. 19b",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.93",
"images": {
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"date_created": "2016-05-26T17:24:16.086000",
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"creditline": "Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
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"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 314219,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2018-09-04T00:00:00-04:00",
"sortable_date": 1715,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 1720",
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"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [
"Madhava Enchants Women Drawing Water from a Well",
"Madhava plays his vina before five women drawing water from a well, from a Madhavanala Kamakandala"
],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-08-26 17:45:54.569000"
}
}