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The stringed instrument known as the sitar usually provided the central sound for the musical performances that were a constant feature of court life in India. The sitar could then be accompanied by percussion, voice, and other supporting instruments. In Raja Deen Dayal’s photograph <em>Maharaja of Rewa in Prayer </em>(<a href="http://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.266.21">2016.266.21</a>), a musician strums a sitar in order to please the deities on the royal altar. The improvised compositions are played in a mode, or key, that correlates to the time of day and season of the year.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
bdb713fdc5ce5ca0
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unknown

Document data

ID
98646
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "98646",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Sitar",
    "description": "The stringed instrument known as the sitar usually provided the central sound for the musical performances that were a constant feature of court life in India. The sitar could then be accompanied by percussion, voice, and other supporting instruments. In Raja Deen Dayal’s photograph <em>Maharaja of Rewa in Prayer </em>(<a href=\"http://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.266.21\">2016.266.21</a>), a musician strums a sitar in order to please the deities on the royal altar. The improvised compositions are played in a mode, or key, that correlates to the time of day and season of the year.",
    "date": "c. 1850",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.346",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79485139"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Musical Instrument"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 95.2 x 15.3 cm (37 1/2 x 6 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Eastern India, Bengal or Bangladesh"
    ],
    "accession": "1918.346"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "98646",
    "label": "Sitar",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "98646",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Sitar",
    "description": "The stringed instrument known as the sitar usually provided the central sound for the musical performances that were a constant feature of court life in India. The sitar could then be accompanied by percussion, voice, and other supporting instruments. In Raja Deen Dayal’s photograph <em>Maharaja of Rewa in Prayer </em>(<a href=\"http://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.266.21\">2016.266.21</a>), a musician strums a sitar in order to please the deities on the royal altar. The improvised compositions are played in a mode, or key, that correlates to the time of day and season of the year.",
    "date": "c. 1850",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.346",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79485139"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Musical Instrument"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 95.2 x 15.3 cm (37 1/2 x 6 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Eastern India, Bengal or Bangladesh"
    ],
    "accession": "1918.346"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "Gourd and wood with pigment, ivory, and bone; copper alloy: frets; iron alloy: strings (with one modern copper replacement)",
    "tombstone": "Sitar, c. 1850. Eastern India, Bengal or Bangladesh. Gourd and wood with pigment, ivory, and bone; copper alloy: frets; iron alloy: strings (with one modern copper replacement); overall: 95.2 x 15.3 cm (37 1/2 x 6 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr., 1918.346",
    "collection": "Indian Art",
    "didYouKnow": "Many paintings of Indian court life depict female musicians holding and playing this kind of lightweight stringed instrument.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "\"Accessions.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 5, no. 8/9 (1918): 82-85.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 82",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136230"
        },
        {
            "citation": "D. S. M. \"Exhibition of Musical Instruments.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 8, no. 9 (1921): 134-43.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: pp. 134-137",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136517"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1918.346",
    "creditline": "The Charles G. King Jr. collection; Gift of Ralph King in memory of Charles G. King Jr.",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 05:19:30.617000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 98646,
    "dept": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
    "coll": "Indian Art",
    "med": "Gourd and wood with pigment, ivory, and bone; copper alloy: frets; iron alloy: strings (with one modern copper replacement)",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
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