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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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- 1
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- photo
- Media ID
- bdb713fdc5ce5ca0
- Size
- 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",
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"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"
}
Context sent to Scholar
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": [
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"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1918.346/1918.346_web.jpg",
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"cul": [
"Eastern India, Bengal or Bangladesh"
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}
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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