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Lot Essay
Inscriptions:
Raja Guler ka Dalip Chand
Raja Dalip Singh of Guler (r. 1695-1741) performs puja in front of the golden image of baby Krishna, Balakrishna. He stares rigidly ahead whilst he holds beads, hidden from us in the orange cloth bag in his right hand. In his left hand is a flower which will no doubt be added to those in a pile atop Balakrishna. Other implements for worship lie before the Raja who is sat on a plain terrace with just a lone tree behind him. Whilst very simple, the painting is simultaneously most luxurious. All the objects of worship are of gold, the Raja himself is wrapped in a beautiful white and gold sash, whilst a finely worked marble jali balustrade bounds the space.
This portrait is an excellent example of the style of the great Guler artist Pandit Seu. The family of Pandit Seu, which includes his sons Manaku and Nainsukh, are credited with greatly advancing not just Guler painting but that of the entire Pahari school. It was under them that Pahari painting moved away from the strong bold colouring of earlier mid-17th century Basohli work towards a more naturalistic style with softer tonalities, likely a result of contact and influence from the Mughal school. Although we have no ascribed works by Pandit Seu a number of paintings are attributed to him by Goswamy and Fischer which share a particular concern for realistic facial portraiture (Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 1992, nos.91-94). In line with this, the present portrait has beautifully modelled eyes and skin that is appropriately wrinkled for the age of the sitter who would be in or approaching their fifties. It is the naturalism of this work which supports Goswamy and Fischer’s opinion that Pandit Seu was a contemporary of Raja Dalip Singh and worked under his patronage. It also suggests that the painter likely encountered Mughal artists working on the plains and imbibed their focus on naturalism into his work without completely abandoning his own personal style (op.cit., p.213).
Jerry Losty relates the present lot to another painting attributed to Pandit Seu of the earlier Raja Raj Singh (r. circa 1685-95), now in the Mittal Museum in Hyderabad (illustrated in J.Seyller and J. Mittal, Pahari Paintings in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad, 2014, no.65). That painting has similarly smooth features of the portraiture and the golden hillside is entirely outlined in fiery red cloud. A remnant of this can be seen in the hint of red clouds in the present painting and with similar skies present in the Mughal portraits of the Farrukhsiyar period (1713-19), it again indicates the influence of Mughal paintings on the early development of Pahari style (Indian Paintings of the Ludwig Habighorst Collection, Francesca Galloway, London, 2018, p.26).
Another portrait by Pandit Seu, this one of Bishan Singh of Amer and painted about a decade earlier than this work, is in the Museum Rietberg (RVI 2247) Beyond solely portraiture a number of other works have been attributed to Pandit Seu. One, now in the Government Museum in Chandigarh, also shows Raja Dalip Singh, although this time in a far more stylised manner and riding an elephant with his heir Govardhan Chand as part of a succession series. Other paintings attributed to Pandit Seu of groups of dancers and musicians demonstrate the painter’s talent for dynamism and movement, one of which was sold in these Rooms, 25 October 2018, lot 181.
Raja Guler ka Dalip Chand
Raja Dalip Singh of Guler (r. 1695-1741) performs puja in front of the golden image of baby Krishna, Balakrishna. He stares rigidly ahead whilst he holds beads, hidden from us in the orange cloth bag in his right hand. In his left hand is a flower which will no doubt be added to those in a pile atop Balakrishna. Other implements for worship lie before the Raja who is sat on a plain terrace with just a lone tree behind him. Whilst very simple, the painting is simultaneously most luxurious. All the objects of worship are of gold, the Raja himself is wrapped in a beautiful white and gold sash, whilst a finely worked marble jali balustrade bounds the space.
This portrait is an excellent example of the style of the great Guler artist Pandit Seu. The family of Pandit Seu, which includes his sons Manaku and Nainsukh, are credited with greatly advancing not just Guler painting but that of the entire Pahari school. It was under them that Pahari painting moved away from the strong bold colouring of earlier mid-17th century Basohli work towards a more naturalistic style with softer tonalities, likely a result of contact and influence from the Mughal school. Although we have no ascribed works by Pandit Seu a number of paintings are attributed to him by Goswamy and Fischer which share a particular concern for realistic facial portraiture (Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 1992, nos.91-94). In line with this, the present portrait has beautifully modelled eyes and skin that is appropriately wrinkled for the age of the sitter who would be in or approaching their fifties. It is the naturalism of this work which supports Goswamy and Fischer’s opinion that Pandit Seu was a contemporary of Raja Dalip Singh and worked under his patronage. It also suggests that the painter likely encountered Mughal artists working on the plains and imbibed their focus on naturalism into his work without completely abandoning his own personal style (op.cit., p.213).
Jerry Losty relates the present lot to another painting attributed to Pandit Seu of the earlier Raja Raj Singh (r. circa 1685-95), now in the Mittal Museum in Hyderabad (illustrated in J.Seyller and J. Mittal, Pahari Paintings in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad, 2014, no.65). That painting has similarly smooth features of the portraiture and the golden hillside is entirely outlined in fiery red cloud. A remnant of this can be seen in the hint of red clouds in the present painting and with similar skies present in the Mughal portraits of the Farrukhsiyar period (1713-19), it again indicates the influence of Mughal paintings on the early development of Pahari style (Indian Paintings of the Ludwig Habighorst Collection, Francesca Galloway, London, 2018, p.26).
Another portrait by Pandit Seu, this one of Bishan Singh of Amer and painted about a decade earlier than this work, is in the Museum Rietberg (RVI 2247) Beyond solely portraiture a number of other works have been attributed to Pandit Seu. One, now in the Government Museum in Chandigarh, also shows Raja Dalip Singh, although this time in a far more stylised manner and riding an elephant with his heir Govardhan Chand as part of a succession series. Other paintings attributed to Pandit Seu of groups of dancers and musicians demonstrate the painter’s talent for dynamism and movement, one of which was sold in these Rooms, 25 October 2018, lot 181.