THE YOUNG RAJA HAMIR CHAND OF KANGRA (R. 1700-1747)
INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, MANKOT, CIRCA 1700
£10,080
Auction: Indian Paintings from the Collection of William & Mildred Archer | Lots 84 to 152 | 12 June at 10am
Description
gouache and gold on card, red border with back margin rules, Raja Hamir Chand dressed in a white jama faintly patterned with sprigs, wearing a rosary and pendant, kneeling on a red cushion facing right on a pink rug with vertical blue stripes, a dagger tucked into his patka and a sword across his lap, Vaishnava tilak marks on his forehead, all against a yellow background, mounted, glazed and framed
Dimensions
Folio: 20.6cm x 15.4 cm (8 1/8in x 6 1/8in).
Provenance
Acquired before 1965.
Footnote
Exhibited:
Loan to Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, from 1994 to 2004, no. 45A.
Literature:
W. G. Archer, Indian Paintings from The Punjab Hills: A Survey and History of Pahari Miniature Painting, Oxford, 1973, Vol. I, p. 375, no. 18, Vol. II, p. 288, no. 18.
Note:
Although Hamir Chand's reign was a long one there are few records at Kangra relating to these years in the first half of the eighteenth century when Kangra was mainly under Mughal rule. However, this splendid portrait relates little to the painting at Kangra but wholly to Mankot with its strong colours of yellow and red, colours that dominated Pahari painting at this time.
For comparison, see B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, Court Painters of Northern India, Zurich, 1992, no.s 38 and 39.