MAHARANA SHAMBHU SINGH THROWING A JAVELIN


BY TARA (1828-1862), MEWAR, 1866 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper; verso inscribed in ink with three lines of Devanagari in two different hands:
maharajadhiraj maharana ji sri sambhu singh ji ri tasvir ko pano godo ganga prasad par savar kalami chataro taro padhe ki punari samat 1923 ra maga 19 gure.
"Maharana Shambhu Singh riding the horse Ganga Prasad, by the painter Tara on the 19th day of January in the year 1866. Image: 12 x 8 5/8 in. (30.5 x 21.9 cm);Folio: 13 7/8 x 10 5/8 in. (35.2 x 27 cm)
|Shambhu Singh was the adopted 14-year old great-nephew of Surup Singh. He assumed the throne in 1861, and full powers by 1865. During his thirteen-year reign he fell under the influence of the British, but remained a dedicated patron of the arts. Another equestrian portrait of Shambhu Singh dated 1868/9 shows the rana at an older age, celebrating holi, painted by Parasuram, dated 1869 (Francesca Galloway ltd, Summer Exhibition, June/July, 2014; now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2015.257). Other related portraits by Tara from the same period are in the City Palace Museum, Udaipur and the National Gallery of Victoria (Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, Zurich, 2001, pp.276-7 nos. 249 & 250). Provenance Collection of George Andrew Spottiswoode (1827-1899), London Thence by descent to the current owner