Important Notice

KISHANGARH, CIRCA 1750
Gouache on paper heightened with gold
Image: 7.25 x 8.75 in (18.6 x 22.3 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

PROVENANCE
The Motichand Khajanchi Collection


The present lot depicts a Hindu Kishangarh ruler with folded hands, welcoming a Mughal prince, who is on horseback. The faith and origins of the figures can be determined by their clothing and features. The Hindu men wear their sashes or jamas tied to the left. The beard and jama tied to the right defines figures of the Islamic faith. The turbans worn by both the parties are Shah Jahani.

This early Kishangarh painting has been rendered in the "Mughal nim qalam (half-pen) technique, characterized by the use of ink outlines and subtly modulated tonal washes accentuated with highlights in color and gold." (Kathryn Calley Galitz, Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings, New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2016, p. 277). Kishangarh was very close to Ajmer which had been a Mughal stronghold since the reign of Akbar. As a result, this school absorbed several influences from the Mughal court, including depictions of architecture, choice of colour palette, and portraiture. The stippled, elongated rendering of the horses in the present lot shows the influence of well-known Kishangarh artist Bhavanidas. Of a related painting, Navina Haider writes that the horses "...display a markedly curving back and splayed legs, giving rise to the typical 'Kishangarh horse.'" (Milo C Beach, Eberhard Fischer and B N Goswamy eds., Masters of Indian Painting II 1650-1900, Zurich: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 2011, p. 544) The composition and placement of figures may also be influenced by Bhavanidas.

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