A portrait of the royal stallion Laldan Bebaha, attributed to Bhavanidas, Kishangarh, circa 1730-35

brush and ink heightened with gouache and gold on paper, laid down on a sheet of paper, inscribed on the reverse in devanagari script: 'Laldan Bebaha' ('Priceless Red Ruby')

Sotheby's, London, 9 October 1978, lot 262
D.B. Robertson
Sotheby's, London, 12 October 1990, lot 55

Falk 1992, notice 1
Haidar 1995, fig.84
Philadelphia 2001, p.120 and footnote 6
Haidar in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, p.533, no.19

In good overall condition, a few small holes to lower left and right corners, as viewed.
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This graceful portrait of a horse, with its attenuated form and accentuated features, is typical of the Kishangarh style of the second quarter of the eighteenth century, when the Mughal and Deccani influences of the previous generation had been absorbed and artists were developing a romanticised style distinctive to the Kishangarh school. Bhavanidas, having been trained in the Mughal atelier, was instrumental in the development of this style that allowed a greater freedom of expression and exploration of form than was the case under Mughal patrons.

The painting was first attributed to Bhavanidas by Falk (1992), an attribution upheld by Haidar (1995 and 2011). Bhavanidas was trained at the Mughal court and moved to Kishangarh in 1719, during the reign of Raja Rai Singh (r. 1706-1748). He was enormously influential in the development of the Kishangarh atelier and he developed an almost signature style for painting human and equine subjects of exaggerated physical form and posture that conveyed a graceful intensity. Falk noted that "his powers of emotional expression, satire and caricature were beyond the reach of other Rajput artists" (Falk 1992). For illustrations of his work and discussion of his career and style see Haidar in Beach, Fischer and Goswamy 2011, pp.531-546; Haidar 2000; Haidar 1995; Falk 1992.

The painting is inscribed on the verso with the stallion's name, Laldan Bebaha ('Priceless Red Ruby'), appropriate for this dark chestnut-coloured animal. The same name for a horse is also to be found in Jahangir's memoirs (Rogers-Beveridge, reprint 1989, p.332) and in Manucci (Irvine 1907-08, vol.II, p.360). The peacock-feather morchals being used to fan the horse indicate that it was a royal horse, a status that would accord with its being painted by the leading court artist. Of the many known Kishangarh portraits of horses, the following comparisons may most closely be associated with Bhavanidas: Heeramaneck 1984, pp.80-81, pls.74-75 (c.1725); Gahlin 1991, p.61, no.61, pl.62; Skelton in Hooper et al. 1997, vol.III, p.268, no.191; Philadelphia 2001, pp.120-1, no.45; Sotheby's, New York, 2 June 1992, lot 149; Falk 1992, fig.1.