AN EQUESTRIAN PORTRAIT OF MAHARAJA BAKHT SINGH RATHORE OF MARWAR (1706 - 1752)
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Marwar (Jodhpur), Rajasthan, North-Western India, mid-18th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the vertical portrait depicting Bakht Singh Rathore on a white steed smoking a huqqa, wearing a white robe and ochre sash, the colour combination repeated in his turban as well, behind his horse a huqqa bearer with a tall white turban holding the brazier for the Maharaja, the ruler's forehead marked with the typical Shaivite tripundra (three horizontal lines with a bindu in the centre), the composition set against a dark green ground, the recto plain except for two lines of black ink Devanagari script now mostly faded, 29.5cm x 23cm.

Dimensions: 29.5cm x 23cm