MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1740

Details

PORTRAIT OF RAJA KARAN SINGH OF BIKANER (1631-1674)
Mughal India, circa 1740
Gouache heightened with gold on paper, the Raja with a nimbus around his head and wearing an orange jama and with gold sword and turban and fine jewellery, attributed below in nasta'liq Chitarman, retouched areas in ground and possibly face, mounted on card with blue margins with gold floral meander, green outer border
Folio 13½ x 10 7/8in. (34.3 x 27.6cm.); miniature 7½ x 5in. (19.2 x 12.7cm.)

Provenance

Anon sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 June 1963, lot 72

Literature

Indian Miniatures from West Coast Private Collections, San Francisco, 1964, no.23, pl.XIII
McInerney, T.: "Mughal Painting during the reign of Muhammad Shah", in Schmitz, B.(ed.): After the Great Mughals, Marg, Bombay, 2002, p.33, fn.16.

Exhibited

Indian Miniatures from West Coast Collections, M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, May 29th-July 16th, 1964

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium

Lot Essay

The McInerney article noted above discusses a number of other works by Chitarman II.
Karan Singh had a long reign, alternately fighting against the expansion of the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb, then allying himself with the emperor, only to become disillusioned and lead a Hindu revolt (Goetz, Herman: Art and Architecture Bikaner State, Oxford, 1950, pp.44-6).

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