The ragamala, or “garland of ragas” painting tradition popular throughout varied Indian schools of painting, visualizes ragas, or musical modes, through heroic personification, color, and mood. The scenes associated with each raga are fixed, yet the artists are allowed considerable creative autonomy in the depiction. Depending on the mood of the piece, the specified scenes may vary from the depiction of a personal devotion to a god, to a pair of lovers locking glances on a hindola. This ragamala, representing Pancham Ragini, depicts a nobleman entertained by music.
This painting originates from a more obscure Rajasthani school at Sawar. The Sawar school had varied styles, some works heavily influenced by Mughal works and others by earlier styles inherent to Rajasthan. This painting appears stylistically relate to works created during the reign of Maharaja Raj Singh of Sawar (r.1705-1730). Compare this work to a portrait of Raj Singh from the Howard Hodgkin Collection, on loan at the Ashmolean Museum (loan no. LI118.41).