BILASPUR, CIRCA 1750

Details

RAJA GOVARDHAN CHAND OF GULER (1741-73)
Bilaspur, circa 1750
Gouache heightened with gold on paper, the raja seated on a terrace smoking a hookah, behind him stands a servant with a peacock feather fan and kerchief, in front of him a chodbar with silver stick, black rule margin, red leaf, margin reinforced on reverse, mounted
Folio 9¼ x 7¾in. (23.5 x 19.4cm.); miniature 9 7/8 x 6½in. (20 x 16.7cm.)

Provenance

Thakur Ishwari Narain Singh, Udaipur, March 1954

Literature

Mildred Archer, Indian paintings from Court, Town and Country, London, 1970, pl.20.
W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Kahlur no.38, p.182
W.G. Archer, Visions of Courtly India, London and New York, 1976, no.37, pp.66-7

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Raja Govardhan Chand ruled Guler at a time when it was one of the biggest innovative driving forces in Pahari painting. A number of portraits are known of him painted at his own court. It is interesting here in this version painted at Kahlur or Bilaspur however to note the smallpox scars on his face which, presumably due to political expediency, do not appear in Guler paintings of the same subject.

More from Arts of India

View All