INDIA, RAJASTHAN, DEVGARH, LATE 18TH CENTURY

The present lot depicts a maharaja seated on a red-and-gold cushioned throne beneath a luxurious red canopy. He is elegantly dressed in a white ensemble draped with a green shawl and adorned with jewellery set with precious gems. Attending him is a nobleman, identifiable by his similarly opulent attire and adornment, with whom he is engaged in conversation. Behind the maharaja is an attendant with a dark complexion, waving a peacock feather fan. The durbar unfolds against a lush background featuring verdant mango trees and vibrant blossoms. In the foreground, a bull-drawn chariot, a horse and a camel rest peacefully. To the right of the durbar is a four-storey architecture, housing a scribe visible on the ground floor and a veiled lady observing from the top floor balcony. The durbar is visually separated from a jharokha darshan on the left by a red border. The jharokha darshan, in the traditional Mughal architectural style of North India, features marble exteriors and pietra dura inlay decorations.
Of particular note in this painting is the depiction of the figures. The faces of the maharaja and the nobleman in attendance are depicted with smallpox scars, an artistic convention seen in early portraits of Devgarh princes from the second half of the 18^th century. A painting (dated ca. 1780) featuring Rawat Ragho Das (Nahar Singh II, Rawat & Beach, Milo, Rajasthani Painters Bagta and Chokha: Master Artists at Devgarh, Zurich, 2005, fig. 26, p. 29) and another ca. 1770 painting of Kunvar Ragho Das and his sons (British Museum, London, acc. no. 1956,0714,0.35) both reflect this manner of portrayal. Instead of being beautified, the portraits are rendered with great realism, and in a way, humanising figures on top of the social hierarchy and making them accessible to the general public. Moreover, it can be seen that while capturing the idealised, refined courtly world, the artist was also allowed a noticeable degree of freedom to depict things “as they were,” and even to emphasise physical imperfections (Singh & Beach, ibid.).