A nobleman

Object Details

• Artist

  Son of Ruknuddin

• Description

  A half-length portrait of a noble facing right with his right arm resting on a gold-bordered orange textile draped over a window ledge. His turban is draped in pearls, he wears numerous rubies, and his gold coat has a fur collar. The profile portrait within a jharokha window and the pale green ground are drawn from Mughal painting.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: inscription in nagari script: Pata Saha bhaga nagar ro kam rukdi re bete ro sam. 1744 jeth Abul Hasan. Ruler of Bhaganagar by the son of Ruknuddin, vs. 1744/a.d. 1687, month of Jeth. Abul Hasan.

  Top verso margin: Abdullah Qutub Shah

  Top verso margin: Abdullah Qutub Shah

• Provenance

  To 1967

  Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner [1]

  From 1967 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001),

  purchased from Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner in December [2]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim

  Notes:

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting from Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi, Bikaner in December 1967, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records, as relayed by Catherine Glynn Benkaim.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

  Sri Moti Chand Khajanchi

• Origin

  Bikaner, Rajasthan state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1680s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Khajanchi, Moti Chand

• Place

  Bikaner, Rajasthan state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Turban, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Men, Portraits, Windows

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings