A PORTRAIT OF RAJA ANAND DEV OF BAHU (C.1690-C.1715)
INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, JAMMU, CIRCA 1690
Estimate: £20,000 - £30,000
Auction: 11 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
gouache on paper heightened with gold, red border with black and white margin lines, depicting the raja dressed in a white jama with a green and gold sash, a blue and orange turban with a feathered sarpech or aigret, leaning against a pink and green bolster on a small white summer carpet, to the right a visiting dignitary dressed in a green jama with an orange sash and blue and white turban, an attendant standing to the left waving a cauri, on a green and orange striped terrace, against a strong yellow ground, mounted, framed and glazed
Dimensions
21.2cm x 27cm
Provenance
Formerly, old Private UK collection.
Footnote
This portrait of the young Raja Anand Dev bearing Vaishnava tilak marks on his forehead and wearing a white jama is a fine example of painting at Jammu at the end of the seventeenth century going into the eighteenth century. It may well have been intended as a state portrait to celebrate the ruler's accession to the throne in 1690 and the merging of Bahu with Jammu. The fine, clear lines of the painting and strong colours are typical of portraits executed in the Punjab Hills at this time. The striped rug is another particular feature. There was also interaction between Kulu and Jammu artists at this time when the rulers of Jammu visited Kulu to worship at the Raghunathji shrine.
For further discussion and comparisons, see: W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, Vol. I., p. 190, no. 1 and Vol. II, p.132, fig. 1, and; W.G. Archer, Visions of Courtly India, London, 1975, no.52, and; Sotheby's, London, The Bachofen von Echt Collection of Indian Miniatures and Company School Paintings, 29 April, 1992, lot 17, and; B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, Court Painters of Northern India, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1992, no.29.