India, Pahari Region, Guler, last quarter 18th century

This portrait was commissioned for the Raja Prakash Chand of Guler (r.1773-1790), as per the inscription on verso in red devanagari script and black nasta’liq script. The facial hair and details of the garment are delineated with precise lines, characteristic features of fine Guler painting. The muted colors and stylization of certain features, namely the thick sash and top-knotted turban, are also indicative of Guler portraiture from this period (J. Cummins, Indian Painting: from Cave Temples to the Colonial Period, Boston, 2006, p.198). Compare with another painting of lesser fineness of Raja Prakash Chand sold in Christie’s South Kensington on 9 October 2009, lot 501.