A PAINTED SCROLL MAP

Details

Rajput School, circa 1840
A painted scroll map
The cotton ground painted with palaces, temples and villages set by the banks of a meandering river within a lush mountainous valley, with place names inscribed in devanagri throughout
59 in. x 42 ft. (150 x 1280 cm.)

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Lot Essay

Although the map appears to have been produced in Rajasthan, the location of the map may well be further afield. This map can be compared to others in the Jaipur palace collection, published by G N Bahura and Chandramani Singh, Catalogue of Historical Documents in Kapa-Dwara Jaipur, Part II, Maps and Plans, Jaipur 1990. The size of this scroll map is much larger than those published above but is comparable in terms of draughtsmanship and style. There are certain features which do not appear in the Jaipur Palace collection, such as the depiction of elephants and gun emplacements.

The reverse of the map is inscribed with various dates, including Vikram samvat 1895 (AD 1838-9). It has not been possible to define the exact location depicted on the map. However, the large numbers of streams and the rocky mountain range suggest a possible location in the Himalayan foot hills.

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