46 RAO JAGAT SINGH <strong>OF</strong> KOTAH HUNTING BOAR KOTAH, RAJASTHAN, NORTH <strong>INDIA</strong>, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the lively hunt depicting Jagat Singh wearing a gold wrapped turban accompanied by an older courtier on horseback, slaying and spearing a wild boar attacking a footman, two dogs follow the boar, indication of a rocky landscape to the lower right corner, on green ground, with white, yellow and black rules, modern red borders 8√ x 12√in. (22.7 x 32.8cm.) £3,000-5,000 $4,300-7,100 €3,800-6,200 PROVENANCE: Acquired before 1991. Rao Jagat Singh of Kotah (r.1658-82) was very keen on hunting. Another closely related portrait of Jagat Singh attributed to the Hada Master of the Kotah school and dated to circa 1660 is currently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum (John Guy and Jorrit Britschgi, Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India, 1100–1900, no.48, pp. 103-6). A famous portrait of Ram Singh I of Kotah hunting a rhinoceros, also on loan to the Metropolitan Museum, is dated circa 1690-1700 (Milo Cleveland Beach, Mughal and Rajput Painting, Cambridge, 2002, fg.127, p.167). 47 MAHARANA ARI SINGH II HUNTING WILD BOARS UDAIPUR, MEWAR, NORTH <strong>INDIA</strong>, CIRCA 1760-70 Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the maharaja rides a stallion with gold trappings, wearing diaphanous robes, he spears a wild boar, another boar topples a footman over, on green ground with high skyline, within black rules and red borders, the reverse with text in black devanagari script 11Ω x 16√in. (29.2 x 42.8cm.) £3,000-4,000 $4,300-5,700 €3,800-5,000 PROVENANCE: Acquired before 1991. For a closely related hunting scene with Maharana Ari Singh II of Mewar (r.1762-72) dated 1762 see Andrew Topsfeld, Court Painting at Udaipur, Zurich, 2001, no.182, p.201. Hunting was a dangerous pastime: Ari Singh was later killed by the ruler of neighbouring Bundi state while out hunting. 30
48 A RAMPAGING ELEPHANT SAWAR OR KOTAH, RAJASTHAN, NORTH <strong>INDIA</strong>, CIRCA 1720 Ink, opaque and transparent pigments on paper, the elephant bull has broken his chains and seized a man with his trunk, his turban and bow lie on the ground, the mahout attempts to control him, within black rules and red borders, identifcation inscription at top 8¬ x 12¡in. (21.8 x 31.4cm.) £4,000-6,000 $5,700-8,500 €5,000-7,500 PROVENANCE: Acquired before 1991. The elephant is identifed as rajaprasanam. 31
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