Lot 289
  • 289

MAHARAJA ABHAI SINGH SEATED IN THE ZENANA

Estimate
7,000 - 9,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • MAHARAJA ABHAI SINGH SEATED IN THE ZENANA
  • Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper
  • image: 12 1/4 by 8 in. (30.4 by 20.3 cm)
  • folio: 12 3/4 by 8 in. (30.5 by 20.3 cm)

Provenance

The Mewar Royal Collection
Simon Ray Ltd., London
Acquired 1990's

Catalogue Note

The youthful Maharaja Abhai Singh of Jodhpur (1702-1749) sits nimbate holding a tiny gold cup, his face naturalistically pock-marked.  He wears a saffron-colored jama and multiple strands of pearls set with emeralds and gold.  Attended by his consort holding a gold flask and two handmaidens, gold platters on the carpet beneath them.  Framed by the moss-green scalloped architectural doorway within a white marble palace of the zenana (harem).  A formal garden and fountain below and the forest beyond.

Maharaja Abhai Singh ruled Jodhpur from 1724-49 and our portrait was likely painted early in his reign.  We see him here as a young man probably in his early twenties.

For a related work, see R. Crill, Marwar Painting: A History of the Jodhpur Style, Mumbai, 1999, p. 65-75.