INDIA, KOTAH, 19TH CENTURY

The importance of shikaar, or the hunt, to Kotah court culture is evident by the prevalence of the theme in their body of painting, and the rulers often took artists with them to paint the events from direct observation, see S.C. Welch, Gods, Kings, and Tiger's, The Art of Kotah, 1997 for further discussion and examples. In the present drawing, the tigers at upper left are unusually minimized while the tanki takes the center of the composition, perhaps indicating the artist was left behind at the camp and awaiting the others to return. The lunging tiger to the left is a typical element of Kotah paintings; for an example see M.C. Beach, Rajput Paintings at Bundi and Kota, 1997, p. XCVII, fig. 103.