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Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch

Prince Bhawani Singh of Sitamau (r. 1867-1885) with his escort out riding during the reign of his grandfather Maharaja Raj Singh (r. 1802-1867)
Sitamau, Central India, dated V.S. 1912/1855 A.D.
Gouache on paper with gold with gold;
365 by 470 mm.; 14 3/8 by 18 ½ in.

Provenance
Sotheby's, London, 10.XII.1974, lot 86
Galerie Soustiel, Paris, 1974-1983
Private collection, Paris, 1983-2007
Inscriptions

The principal figures are identified by Devanagri inscriptions (available on request).

On the reverse:
A six-line git or song evidently in praise of the prince. A painting dated 1847, of Bhawani Singh’s father Ratan Singh, formerly in the Ehrenfeld collection, has two such poems of praise by different poets written on its reverse, see D. J. Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection, New York, 1985, p. 172, no. 81.

A second inscription in a cursive hand refers to the prince as bhavar-ji (grandson) and gives his age as eighteen years (umar varsha 18), the name of the horse, Rajragyo, and the date as the first of the bright half of the month of Paus 1912, which equates to December 1855.
Published

Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, Sotheby’s, London, 10th December 1974, p.19, lot 86
Soustiel, J. and M.-C. David, Miniatures Orientales de l’Inde III, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1983, p.107, no. 127

all text, images © Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch

 

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