A Rajput nobleman

Object Details

• School/Tradition

  Bikaner school

• Description

  The subject stands facing left against a brown background wearing a green turban, orange and white striped pants and a diaphanous jama. His gold patka is long and decorated with floral sprays.

• Marks

  Personal seal of the Maharaja of Bikaner, dated August 19, 1964.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: Inscribed in Nagari script: Muhat Kapur Chand #46, 3598 in blue pencil, no. 52, Khet Singh.

  Verso: Inscribed in Nagari script: Muhat Kapur Chand #46, 3598 in blue pencil, no. 52, Khet Singh.

• Label

  This sensitive portrait of a Rajput nobleman can be attributed to a painter from Bikaner. The naturalistic style, the subject's posture, clothing and attributes, and the intimate scale of the painting are indebted to imperial courtier portraits of the first half of the seventeenth-century.

  Standing and facing left against a chocolate brown ground, the nobleman is splendidly dressed. His green turban, striped churidar pants, woven gold sash (patka) and diaphanous muslin robe (jama) are made from luxury textiles. A warrior in the service of the empire, he rests his right hand on the golden hilt of a katar (punch dagger) and a long sword hangs from his belt.

  The portrait demonstrates an important stage in the development of Rajput portraiture. Rajputs adopted the genre of portraiture from the Mughal court, where they were represented as courtiers. According to Steven Kossak, the style and finish of Bikaner paintings during the reign of Maharaja Karan Singh (r. 1632 - 69), strongly suggests that painters trained in the Mughal atelier joined the Bikaner workshop.[1] The subtlety of expression and finesse of this painting indicate that it was likely made by a painter from the imperial workshop who had shifted to Bikaner.

• Provenance

  To at least 1964

  Maharaja of Bikaner [1]

  From at least 1969 to 1977

  Chhote Bharany, New Delhi and the USA [2]

  From 1977 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Chhote Bharany in Los Angeles in October 1977

  From 2001 to 2008

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

  From 2018

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

  Notes:

  [1] According to Catherine Glynn Benkaim, 6.14.16, the Raja of Bikaner began selling off his collection in the 1960s. He sold a large group of paintings to Kevin Delahanty, an Englishman, and many paintings to Edwin Binney III (1925 - 1986).

  He also sold paintings to the Delhi-based dealer Chhote Bharany, who deposited a cache of paintings in the United States around 1969 and sold them off over years, as per Gurshuran Sidhu.

  [2] Bharany took all of his paintings out of India before the Emergency (most probably in 1969) and kept them with William Wolff in New York. This painting was likely in the cache of Bharany paintings kept at the William Wolff gallery. According to conversation with Gurshuran Sidhu. Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting from Chhote Bharany in 1977. All of the Benkaim Bharany paintings were purchased in the United States, as per conversation with Catherine Glynn Benkaim between May 23 and 24, 2016.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Maharaja of Bikaner (1924-1988, reigned 1950-1977)

  Chhote Bharany (New Dehli, India)

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• 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

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1650s, 1640s

• Name

  Bharany, Chhote, Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Maharaja of Bikaner

• Place

  Bikaner, Rajasthan state, India

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings