MAHARANA ARI SINGH ON HIS HORSE TILAK SUNDAR, BY THE ARTIST SHIVA, MEWAR, UDAIPUR, CIRCA 1765-70 |

gouache with gold on paper, narrow black inner border, red outer border, inscription of identification in nagari on painted surface above figure, three-line inscription in nagari on reverse

The leaf has been restored and consolidated in some areas, mainly the borders and the corners, areas of repaintings, crackeleure, losses and flaking, as viewed.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Maharana Ari Singh ruled Mewar from 1761 to 1773. Many portraits of him survive, but the energy and intensity of this example, with the ruler and caparisoned horse placed centrally on a large expanse of blank green background, is striking. Another equestrian portrait of Ari Singh that names his horse Tilak Sundar was sold in our New York rooms, 20 September 2002, lot 125. For the artist Siva and discussions of painting during the reign of Ari Singh see A. Topsfield Court Painting at Udaipur, Artibus Asiae, Supplementum XLIV [44], Zurich, pp.197-207; A. Topsfield, Paintings from Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1980, pp.110-123.