A PRINCE AND PRINCESS EMBRACE ON A TERRACE, RAJASTHAN, KOTAH, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

This is an intensley romantic image of a young prince embracing his beloved. The two figures are entwined in longing, and the hot orange colour of the robes conveys the heat of their passion. The closeness of the two faces, the way the prince cups the face of his lover in his hand and wraps his leg around hers creates a powerful compositional spiral that enhances the mood of the painting.

The style of the two figures is close to other Kotah works of the 1720s, particularly a miniature of A Craftsman Making a Toy Matchlock of Wood, in the Rao Madho Singh Trust Museum, Kotah, and, for the female figure here, a miniature of Dancers in the same collection (specifically the dancer on the right, see Welch 1997, nos.26, 33). The style of the two figures is so similar that is is possible to attribute the present work to the same artist. Cary Welch attributed both of these works to an artist termed by him "The Kotah Master", who, he suggested, had trained in the Deccan and moved to Kotah with Jagat Singh (r.1658-83) when he returned from campaigning in the Deccan in the late 17th century (see footnote to lot 28 for further discussion of this artist). Welch also suggested that the male figure in the present miniature may represent Raja Durjan Sal (r.1723-1756).

Cary Welch's handwritten notes on the backboard of the frame are as follows:
"An Embrace, Kotah
One of most lyrically romantic of Rajput pictures
Must be by the 'Kotah Master'
Bautze says Jagat Singh Period, oct.'94
Is this Durjan Sal (1723-1756)?. Received Kalat from Muh. Shah at Mughal Court
See Brijnaj's (?) book, pl.XI, by the follower of the K.Master
Feel of flesh - artist understood bodies - leg against thigh, pressure of hand, touch of hair
Resembles pairing of butterflies - vibrato, wiggle - flutter - his Mughalesque beard - a flame - eager tenderness like a flame burning with two wicks
élan of cypress trees - spring -
young, soft beard -
a red border of unusual sort, beyond a 1/16 " or so black ruling - most of the red border has been trimmed away and is missing. Traces of small white paper tabs round edge of verso, traces of an erstwhile framing or mounting job -
Trees spring up ecstatically - feel of physical and spritual contact  - of leg wrapped round hip and thigh, or meeting of eyes - whites bring to mind those of Jajat's portrait. Powerful, lively brush strokes throughout, from the faces and hands to foliage of trees and flowers - thin, young beard, under Mughal influence, streaky sky harks back to Golconda. She: shy, reserved; he youthfully ardent - her hair; undulating with inner life, flowing, tactile, sensuous - "