A BONE-INLAID CARVED WOOD SITAR BY RADHA KRISHNA SHARMA & CO., 20TH CENTURY
This lot is a museum deaccession and is therefore offered without reserve

India, Calcutta. The gourd-shaped body (tumba) rising to a long neck (dandi) of semicircular section, carved in relief with large acanthus leaves, finely inlaid in bone, most elements richly incised with scrolling foliage, and fitted with narrow curved frets (pardah) secured by twenty steel strings, the larger tuning pegs of bud shape and turned with a fluted design. The secondary tumba decorated with further foliage, ivory-inlaid bands and stylized flowerheads.

Inscriptions: The upper section of the neck applied with an old paper label, ‘Radha Krishna Sharma & Co., Vivekananda Road, Calcutta’ and the top impressed with the serial number ‘544’.

Provenance: Galerie Hardt (established in 1976), Radevormwald, Germany, before 2020. Acquired by the gallery’s founder Peter Hardt (b. 1946) during his extensive travels in Asia, the first of which occurred during a formative world tour in 1973. Throughout his storied career, Peter Kienzle-Hardt organized countless exhibitions and participated in major international art fairs. He made many important contacts during this time and eventually met the Kienzle siblings, who shared his passion for Asian art and culture. A strong bond and deep friendship developed, ultimately leading to the creation of the Museum für Asiatische Kunst decades later in 2014. While the museum’s permanent exhibition predominantly comprised pieces from the Kienzle Family Collection, Peter Kienzle-Hardt supplemented it with objects from his own collection. Before his death in 2019, Horst Kienzle bequeathed his entire property to Peter and legally adopted him as his son, who has been using the name Peter Kienzle-Hardt ever since.
Condition: Extensive wear and traces of use, expected age cracks, minor losses, the strings partly loose or damaged, some tuning pegs lost. Fine, naturally developed patina.

Weight: 2,093 g
Dimensions: Length 125.0 cm

Sri Radha Krishna Sharma was a celebrated sitar maker who founded his own company in 1948 in Calcutta, having learned the craft of woodworking for the construction of traditional musical instruments such as the sitar, tanpura, and sarod from his uncle Sitaram Sharma. Radha Krishna Sitars up until the mid-1970s are much prized by connoisseurs, and today the company continues to make high-quality instruments under Sharma’s sons.

The stringed instrument known as 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. The improvised compositions were played in a mode, or key, that correlated to the time of day and season of the year. An example of a sitar in use can be seen in the photograph titled Maharaja of Rewa in Prayer, taken in 1886 by Raja Deen Dayal, where a musician strums a sitar to please the deities on the royal altar, held in the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession number 2016.266.21.

Literature comparison:
Compare a closely related wood and ivory sitar, one of the last instruments made by the pre-eminent luthier Hiren Roy in Calcutta, ca. 1990, 137.1 cm long, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 2022.487.3a, b.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Christie’s London, 20 July 2016, lot 98
Price: GBP 1,125 or approx. EUR 2,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An Indian bone-inlaid wood sitar, early 20th century
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, decoration, and size (127 cm).