Portrait of a prince of the ruling house of Sindhia, full-length, holding a narwhal tusk, in an interior

Details

Gwalior Artist, circa 1880
Portrait of a prince of the ruling house of Sindhia, full-length, holding a narwhal tusk, in an interior
pen and black ink and bodycolour, heightened with gold over a photographic base
24½ x 20¼ in. (62.3 x 51.5 cm.)

Exhibited

London, Niall Hobhouse, Indian Painting during the British Period, September 1986, no. 51.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Photography reached India in the 1840's. Initially it was not popular amongst painters, and many chose to ignore it, however, it began to gain importance as a documentary and artistic medium, and popularity swung in its favour. The present watercolour comes from the transitional period of either copying photographs, or, as seen in this picture, painting directly over them.

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