Object Details
Culture
Indian, Rajasthan, Jaipur School
Date
ca. 1863
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
9 7/8 × 7 7/8 inches (25.1 × 20 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired through the George and Mary Rockwell Fund
Object
Number
2002.009.003
This state portrait by one of Jaipur’s finest court painters shows Maharaja Ram Singh II of Jaipur ((…)
This state portrait by one of Jaipur’s finest court painters shows Maharaja Ram Singh II of Jaipur (1833-1880) wearing a European-style cape. The star-shaped medallion on the cape is the decoration of a Grand Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, which Ram Singh was awarded in 1863. The portrait was probably painted to commemorate the bestowal of that award – one of the great marks of favor of the British Raj.Ram Singh II was an avid photographer and life patron of the Photographic Society of Bengal. At the time of his death he left a personal oeuvre comprising 2700 collodion plate negatives, 7000 albumen prints and hundreds of photograph albums. This vast collection, as well as his numerous cameras and other photographic paraphernalia are still preserved in the City Palace, Jaipur. His interest in photography reveals itself in this painted portrait, particularly as he is posed before the type of Victorian-style painted backdrop that appears in so many of his portrait photographs.
