Maharaja Pratap Singh
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.These twin portrait studies of the third maharaja of Jaipur, Pratap Singh (r. 1778–1803), are executed in finely controlled line brushwork. The jewelry is lightly sketched in, and care was taken to define the subject’s almond-shaped eyes and eyebrows, which follow classical conventions. The drawing—attributed to the head of the Jaipur workshop, Sahib Ram—served as a preparatory study for either murals or panel paintings for the palace at Jaipur. Pratap Singh was partial to dressing up as Krishna to enact the devotional rasalila circle dance with the women of his court, who were enlisted to perform as the gopis (cowherds). The peacock feather turban ornament (sarpech) that he wears in the study nearby suggests the drawing was intended for a mural depicting Krishna’s circle dance with the gopis, since peacock feathers were traditionally identified with Krishna
Artwork Details
- Title: Maharaja Pratap Singh
- Artist: Attributed to Sahib Ram (active 1778–1803)
- Date: ca. 1790
- Culture: India, Rajasthan, Jaipur
- Medium: Opaque watercolor on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 28 1/8 × 22 13/16 in. (71.5 × 58 cm)
Framed: 34 1/4 × 29 × 1 1/8 in. (87 × 73.7 × 2.9 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: The Howard Hodgkin Collection, on loan from the Howard Hodgkin Indian Collection Trust
- Object Number: L.2022.30.22
- Rights and Reproduction: Photo © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art