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MAHARAO RAM SINGH II OF KOTA OBSERVES HIS LOVER BATHING KOTAH, CIRCA 1827 image 1
MAHARAO RAM SINGH II OF KOTA OBSERVES HIS LOVER BATHING KOTAH, CIRCA 1827 image 2
Lot 649

MAHARAO RAM SINGH II OF KOTA OBSERVES HIS LOVER BATHING
KOTAH, CIRCA 1827

23 September 2020, 15:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$8,825 inc. premium

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MAHARAO RAM SINGH II OF KOTA OBSERVES HIS LOVER BATHING

KOTAH, CIRCA 1827
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper.
11 3/8 x 7 5/8 in. (29 x 19.5 cm)

Footnotes

Whereas most paintings of Ram Singh II show the ruler hunting and parading, here he sneaks a peek at a beautiful maiden bathing on the zenana's terrace. Curiously, an attendant holds a mirror reflecting both him and the maiden, perhaps ushering the first meeting of the couple's eyes. The painting is an adaption of purva raga, a classic ragamala musing on the love-play between Krishna and Radha.

Compare other versions in the San Diego Museum of Art and the National Museum, New Delhi (Goswamy, Domains of Wonder, San Diego, 2005, p.89, no.29; and Goswamy, Essence of Indian Art, San Francisco, 1996, p.92, no.57, respectively). Having ascended the throne in 1828, Ram Singh II is shown with a youthful face in the present painting, indicating it was produced close to the time of his accession. A drawing of the ruler sporting similar sideburns is dated 1831 (Bautze, "Scenes of Devotion and Court Life", in Topsfield (ed.) Court Painting in Rajasthan, Mumbai, 2000, p.135, fig.12).  

Published
Milo Cleveland Beach, Rajput Painting at Bundi and Kota, Ascona, 1974, fig.94, pl.LXXXVIII.

Provenance
Motichand Khajanchi, 1967
Collection of Milo Cleveland Beach

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