A PORTRAIT OF MAHARAJA SAWAI PRATAP SINGHINDIA, RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR, ATTRIBUTED TO SAHIB RAM, CRICA 178012 x 8 in. (30.5 x 20.3 cm.)Details12 x 8 in. (30.5 x 20.3 cm.)ProvenanceSotheby’s New York 16 September 2002, lot 127A.This fine large-scale portrait is characteristic of the work of Sahib Ram, whose long career from 1750 until 1820 saw him serve six different maharajas of Jaipur. His hand has become instantly recognizable by connoisseurs, who celebrate his large scale works for their unusually fluid execution of line, use of flat planes and distinct stylization. Anand Coomaraswamy had described his technique as “a line so deliberate, so self-confident, so full of wonder at the beauty of the world… and at the same time so austere,” that it must be understood as “the product of a whole civilization.”Little is known biographically about Sahib Ram, the principle artist most associated with the royal suratkhana (workshop) active during the reigns of Maharaja Madho Singh I (r. 1750-1768, see lot 90) and his son Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh (r. 1778-1803). He was likely the atelier master and held in high esteem by his patrons as evidenced his numerous servants and assistants. Sahib Ram's workshop appears to have been quite active producing numerous extant portraits and drawings - likely employing a sizable number of artist colleagues and subordinates.Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh came to the Jaipur throne at the young age of 14 in 1778, the youthful appearance of the present lot allowing us to date the work towards the start of his reign. He is remembered as a great patron of the arts, particularly for having constructed the great Hawa Mahal, or Palace of Winds. It is also understood, based on the studies of Anand Coomaswamy and the surviving evidence of large scale pounces produced by Sahib Ram, that Pratap Singh commissioned large-scale painted panels involving themes of Krishna lila for the Jaipur city palace. Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh here is portrayed as a young noble. His face is smoothly contoured with subtle shading, sans wrinkles. He is bejeweled in an abundance of pearls, diamonds, emeralds and rubies. His lotus shaped eyes, signature to Sahib Ram’s hand, is said to have been influenced by the Kishangarh style, a Maharaja Pratap Singh was married to a Kishangarh princess and good friends with Nihal Chand’s patron Maharaja Sawant Singh. His Vaishnav tilaka emphasizes his devout devotion to Lord Krishna.A painting of Pratap Singh in the collection of Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc. no. M.81.272.4) appears to have been produced around the same time as the present lot, around 1780 when the Maharaja’s youthful appearance is still prince-like. Several other bust-length drawings of Pratap Singh attributable to Sahib Ram are known, including a late 18th century portrait of the Maharaja as a prince at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 17.2933),a slightly later portrait considered to be from circa 1893 at the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc. no. 2011.207), and an even later portrait where the Maharaja is considerable more matured than the present example, dated to circa 1800, at the Museum of Fine arts, Boston (acc. no. 17.2934). See M.E. Aitken, "Sahib Ram," in M.C. Beach, E. Fischer, B. N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting 1650-1900, Artibus Asiae, Sup 48 I/II, 2011, pp. 623-640 for an extensive survey of Sahib Ram’s works. ---