PROBABLY MEWAR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

The present scene most likely derives from a royal Mughal history of the late 16th century and is comparable in arrangement of figures to a painting of Akbar receiving his sons at Fathhpur from the Akbarnama of 1590-95 (Victoria and Albert Museum, IS.2:110-1896). Although the fashion and scene appears late 16th century Mughal, the painting is most likely from Mewar in the early 18th century. The painting combines the Mughal subject matter and a more Mughal approach to portraiture alongside the early Rajput preference of flat pattern-making, as seen in the trees and rocks of our painting. This is typical of painting during the reign of Amar Singh II (Andrew Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, Zurich, 2001, p.123). The eyes of the figures in our scene recall those of 18th century Mewar painting, however the figures themselves are not of the stockier composition which became characteristic of Mewar painting as the 18th century progresses.

Mughal subjects are unusual in Mewar painting of this period. A painting of Bahadur Shah and his sons, dated circa 1710-20 and sold in these Rooms, 28 October 2021, lot 42, has comparable figures in addition to the Mughal subject matter. The landscape in our painting, with rocky outcrops formed by repeated ovals, horizontal shading to suggest grass and architecture in the far horizon recalls a painting of a royal hunting party dated 1705-15 formerly in the collection of Toby Falk which was sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2023, lot 49. The facial portraits, including attempts at a three-quarter portrait, and depictions of hunting birds between the two paintings are also comparable. Unlike the Falk painting, ours has a particular sketchy quality, especially in foreground and background. A Mewar painting of a lion hunt dated to the first half of the 18th century with a similar sketchiness, especially in the treatment of the background, was sold in Sotheby’s London, 24 April 2024, lot 157.