AN INDIAN RULER SEATED ON A HIGH CHAIR ON A TERRACE
Possibly Bijapur or Hyderabad, Deccan, Central India, ca. 1760 - 1780

Opaque pigments and gold on paper, the vertical composition portraying a white-clad Indian ruler or prince, possibly Shivaji I (1630 - 1680) from the Bhonsle Maratha clan, also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the first Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (r. 1674 1680), seated on a Western high chair on a terrace of a palatial compound, holding a mala rosary bead necklace in his right hand and a rose blossom in the other, his forehead bearing the typical Shaiva tripundra mark as an identifying feature of his faith, next to his feet a large blue and white porcelain basin with a boar hunting scene and a Western castle, the green background livened by a colourful floral garden with red poppies, yellow and white daisies, yellow roses, and pink hyacinths, set within black rules, and concentric polychrome borders, the largest featuring a charming pink rosette spray on ohcre yellow ground, mounted, glazed and framed, the painting 25.5cm x 18cm, 36cm x 31cm including the frame.