λ AN INDIAN IVORY AND BONE-INLAID HARDWOOD RAVI SHANKAR-STYLE SITAR
Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, ca. 1963 - 4, made by Hiren Roy & Sons Sitars

Of typical shape, with seven main strings and twelve sympathetic strings, with a voluminous gourd-shaped resonance chamber and long hollow neck, the resonance chamber finely carved with lush foliage, rosettes, vine trellis and ripe grape bunches, the body inlaid with engraved and red and black-painted ivory plaques with floral tendrils, leaves, doves, geometric motifs and bands of beaded 'eye' motif, the tuning pegs at the top carved in the shape of rosebuds, the overall decorative design and style very close to Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee's sitars, an ivory plaque at the top engraved with the name of the maker Hiren Roy & Sons and their atelier's address, approximately 124.5cm high.

This very special sitar was a special commission and gift to the present owner from his brother, who had it made by one of the finest and most well-known sitar makers of India, Hiren Roy of Kolkata, in 1963 - 4 under the special supervision and instructions of Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929 - 1990), a prominent North Indian (Hindustani) classical musician, one of the 19th generation of Dagar family dhrupad musicians who spearheaded the revival of the rudra vina as a solo concert instrument.

This remarkable instrument has been exhibited several times in England, specifically at the Horniman Museum in London, at the Sunderland Museum in Sunderland, and also at the Museum of Croydon during one of the borough's festivals. The present owner played it on a number of important occasions, including once for HRH The Prince of Wales at the House of the Indian High Commissioner in 1971 and in several BBC Radio 3 broadcasts, testifying the appreciation of South Asian classical music and instruments outside India, specifically in the United Kingdom.

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