MUGHAL INDIA, FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

The long, loose mane of the horse in this painting helps place this painting in the early 18^th century. The 17^th century fashion was for horses to have braided or banded and tied manes, as found in the paintings of the Padshahnama in the Royal Collection, Windsor (see Milo Cleveland Beach and Ebba Koch, King of the World: The Padshahnama, London, 1997). Loosely worn manes similar to the present painting appear in Mughal paintings towards the turn of the 18th century. Comparable equestrian portraits include a painting of the 'Emperor Farrukhsiyar hunting' attributed to Chitarman II, circa 1713-19 (Terence McInerney, 'Chitarman II (Kalyan Das)', in Milo Cleveland Beach, Eberhart Fischer and B. N. Goswami (eds.), Masters of Indian Painting, 2011, Fig.4 , p.552) or Muhammad Shah in a Garden attributed to Nidha Mal circa 1735 (Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 1914 14.686). The use of thin washes in the present portrait also appears in Mughal painting around a similar time, preluding the similar style that would be adopted in later 18th century Pahari and Kishangarh painting.