Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art

Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Works of Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 399. Portrait of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar Holding a Lotus Blossom, India, Udaipur, mid-eighteenth Century.

Property From a Private Westchester Collection

Portrait of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar Holding a Lotus Blossom, India, Udaipur, mid-eighteenth Century

Auction Closed

September 20, 05:33 PM GMT

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from a Private Westchester Collection

Portrait of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar Holding a Lotus Blossom

India, Udaipur, mid-eighteenth Century


Opaque watercolor on paper heightened with gold

 

Image: 11⅜ by 7¼ in. (29 by 18.4 cm)

Folio: 13¾ by 9⅜ in. (34.9 by 23.8 cm)


Sotheby's London, 23rd April 1997, lot 523.

The radiantly nimbate Maharana Jai Singh (b. 1653-1698) of Mewar stands in a formal profile. His left hand holds a single blossom with his other hand clutching a gold-hilted sword. A katar (fist dagger) is tucked into his waistband. He wears a Mughal-style pagri (headgear) and white muslin diaphanous four-pointed chakdharjama. Further reflecting the influence of the Mughal imperial manner is the convention of the stipple-shaded underarms and royal profile view. The portrait is set against an apple-green background rising to a lapis-blue sky with a hint of foliage beneath the Maharana’s feet. The subject is identified by an inscription in Devanagari on the red folio margin above, which reads “Maharana Sri Je Singhji."

The image of a ruler in formal attire, bearing weapons and enjoying the scent of a blossom was a convention established in Mughal painting and later found great favor at Rajput courts like Udaipur. It signifies an ideal ruler who is equally sensitive and martial - one who could take time to appreciate the refined fragrance of a flower - but is prepared to use deadly force against any adversary if provoked.


This elegant posthumous portrait was likely created at the Royal Udaipur painting workshops early in - or just prior to - the reign of Maharana Ari Singh (b. 1724-1773) and is likely from a series exalting the Maharana's royal Sisodia predecessors and line of succession. Close visual examination reveals remarkably fine lines in the swept-back mustache, side whiskers and tiny hairs curling along the nape of the neck - as well as the applications of gold ornamentation with nearly-microscopic red striated lines and necklace of raised dotted pearls and gems - all executed in a clear, confident and extremely refined hand. 


This painting was created in a period when superb quality works were being produced in the Mewar royal atelier by artists Bhopa, Kesu Ram, Bhima and others in their circle who surely collaborated on series' such as ours within close proximity to each other.  The present painting is amongst the highest quality produced by that atelier during the mid-eighteenth century. Its style hews close to the circle of Bhopa and his colleagues - who rank among the Rana’s greatest masters.


A relatable (although somewhat less refined) portrait of Maharana Jai Singh, attributed to the artist Sahaji (ca. 1761), is in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (acc. no. AS197-1980) Melbourne. Inscribed in gold Devanagari script it similarly depicts the ruler standing on a mossy green ground holding a large blossom and a gilt sword, see Andrew Topsfield, Paintings From Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1980 p.125, cat.181. A life-size portrait of Maharana Jai Singh painted on cotton was offered at Sotheby's London, 18th October 2001, lot 69 and Sotheby's New York March 24 2004, lot 129 which shows a very similar composition to the present painting however with the Maharana that time holding an open lotus blossom and depicted standing without a halo. For an overview of painting in Mewar, see Andrew Topsfield, "Court Painting at Udaipur," Artibus Asiae Supp. XLIV, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 2001.