BY KASAM, INDIA, BIKANER, DATED VS 1804/1747 AD

Details

Portrait of a nawab of Fatehpur with a huqqa
By Kasam, India, Bikaner, dated VS 1804/1747 AD
The noble in profile seats against a pink bolster holding a huqqa pipe, clad in a closely fitting white top, a turquoise turban with elegant sarpech, his face framed by a halo against a silver background, set within a jharoka window under a marble ribbed dome rising to a lotus finial, full red margin with inner white rules, the reverse with devanagri inscription, ownership stamps and librarian's signature
Opaque pigments and gold on paper
9¼ x 5 in. (23.6 x 12.8 cm.), painting
13 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (34.5 x 20cm.), folio

Provenance

Royal Collection of Bikaner (no. 9), before 9 June 1964

Engraved

The inscription on the reverse in devanagri reads
Sabi Fatehpur re Nawab Shriji Sahib ri nazar kaam uste Kasam ro samvat 1804 miti Phalgun sudi 6
(Portrait of Fatehpur Nawab Sahib ji - work of artist Kasam dated Phalgun 6 (March) 1747 AD)

Special Notice

Lots which are Art Treasures under the Art and Antiquities Act 1972 cannot be exported outside India. Please note that lots are marked as a convenience to you and we shall not be liable for any errors in, or failure to, mark any lot.

Brought to you by

Umah Jacob

ujacob@christies.com +91 22 2280 7905

Lot Essay

Fatehpur is a town in Shekawati approximately mid-way on the main route between the cities of Jaipur and Bikaner. In 1747 when this was painted, Bikaner was in the depths of near consistent battles between the various rival Rajput powers, made more intense by the civil war that was taking place in Marwar. The Shekawati region was at the same time breaking away from the direct control of Jaipur, so this noble, positioned just the other side of the border from Bikaner, would have been of particular political interest to Gai Singh, the then ruler of Bikaner (r.1745-1787) (Hermann Goetz, The Art and Architecture of Bikaner State, Oxford, 1950, p.49).

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