Early British Drawings, Watercolours and Portrait Miniatures

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Lot 105
  • 105

British School

Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
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Description

  • British School
  • Portrait of Amar Singh, the Maratha Raja of Thanjavur
  • inscribed on the verso of the frame: Miniature of the / Rajah of Tanjore in / the East Indies given / by him to Major. / the Honble Wiliam [sic] / Monson then / Comman = / dant at Tanjore 1797
  • watercolour on ivory
  • 9.6 by 8 cm.; 3 3/4 by 3 in.
wearing a feathered turban lined with pearls and gold lace, a white chemise trimmed with fur, pearls and jewels, with a red and yellow sash, a dagger within the sash, the Brihadishwara Temple beyond, gilt-metal mount, ebonized frame

Provenance

presented in 1797 by the Raja to the Hon. William Monson;
Thence by descent

Catalogue Note

Amar Singh, the Maratha Raja of Thanjavur, also known as the Rajah of Tanjore, the anglicised name for Thanjuvar, was the younger son of the earlier Maratha Raja of Thanjavur and served for 5 years as regent after the death of his brother Thuljaji II. He ruled in the name of his young nephew Serfoji II from 1787 to 1793, however, he then usurped the throne deposing the boy king Serfoji and ruling absolutely from 1793 until 1798.

The building seen in the background of the miniature is likely to be the Brihadishwara Temple at Thanjuvar. The Temple has its origins in the great Chola building projects of circa 1000 CE, specifically under the instruction of the ambitious Emperor Rajaraja Chola I who ruled between 985 and 1014 CE.

The miniature was presented by the Raja in 1797 to the Hon. William Monson, younger son of the second Baron Monson. Monson was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British army at the time and had served in India with the 52nd Regiment of Infantry for seventeen years. In 1806 he returned to England and enjoyed a brief political career.