DATIA, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1753

Rao Indrajit Singhji (1727-1762, r.1733-1762) is clearly identified by a nagari inscription in the lower part of the painting (śrī rāu iṃdrajītjū dev) as well as on verso (rāv īṃdrajītjū). He kneels on a masnad below an awning at the bank of a river or lake and, with the help of a string keeps with his right hand a swing in motion. The swing resembles a shrine with the image of a fluting Krishna, probably Shri Bihariji, who turns round to a lady who offers a banta (a box with betel-preparations). A lady worshipper holds a morchl above the idol, while an orchestra behind her praises Krishna with its songs. A painting showing this ruler in an almost identical position in apparently the same garden is dated V.S.1810 (1753 C.E.) and is published in Stuart Cary Welch, Milo Cleveland Beach, Gods, Thrones, and Peacocks, Northern Indian Paintings from two traditions: Fifteenth to Nineteenth Centuries, New York, 1965, cat.38, p.82.