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Not currently on display at the V&A

Raja Ajmat Dev

Painting
ca. 1730 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Mankot (made)

Painting in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Raja Ajmat Dev of Mankot (ruled ca. 1730-1760) smoking a huqqa, seated and leaning against a bolster, against a bright yellow background. He wears dark green costume and sits on a white terrace leaning on a cushion with a talwar and spittoon now at hand.


Object details

Categories
Paintings
Portraits
Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project
SCRAN
Object type
Painting
TitleRaja Ajmat Dev (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Opaque Watercolour
Paper
Paint
Gold
Painted
Brief description
Painting, Raja Ajmat Dev of Mankot smoking huqqa, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Mankot, ca. 1730
Physical description
Painting in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Raja Ajmat Dev of Mankot (ruled ca. 1730-1760) smoking a huqqa, seated and leaning against a bolster, against a bright yellow background. He wears dark green costume and sits on a white terrace leaning on a cushion with a talwar and spittoon now at hand.
Dimensions
  • Height: 277mm (maximum)
  • Width: 198mm (maximum)
  • Image within innermost painted borders height: 229mm
  • Image within innermost painted borders width: 161mm
19/06/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013; object irregular in shape
Content description
Raja Ajmat Dev of Mankot (ruled ca. 1730-1760) smoking a huqqa, seated and leaning against a bolster, against a bright yellow background. He wears dark green costume and sits on a white terrace leaning on a cushion with a talwar and spittoon now at hand.
Style
Mankot
Gallery label
  • RAJA AJMAT DEV OF MANKOT SMOKING A HUQQA Opaque watercolour on paper Mankot, Punjab Hills c. 1730 IS.23-1974 Formerly in the collection of Dr W.B. Manley Pahari (‘Hill’) paintings were made for the many local courts of the Punjab Hills from the 16th to the 19th century. They exhibit a wide range of styles, including early 18th-century examples such as this, where the emphasis is on vigorous shapes and bold colours. Comparisons with other portraits meant the subject of this painting could be identified as Raja Ajmat Dev of Mankot, who ruled from about 1730 to 1760.(01/08/2017)
  • RAJA AJMAT DEV OF MANKOT SMOKING A HUQQA Gouache on paper Mankot, Punjab Hills c.1730 IS.23-1974 Formerly in the collection of Dr W.B. Manley (27/11/1990)
Object history
Formerly in the collection of Major General G. McAndrew, Superintendent of Chamba, 1872-1874. The composition is derived from the same source as a painting in the Chandigarh Museum, but the figure of a morchhal bearer is omitted.
Production
Punjab Hills
Subjects depicted
Ruler
Hookah
Terrace
Ajmat Dev
Bibliographic references
  • Swallow, Deborah and John Guy eds. Arts of India: 1550-1900. text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : V&A Publications, 1990. 240 p., ill. ISBN 1851770224, p.144/5, pl.124.
  • Stronge, S. "The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms", V&A, 1999 Cat. no 61, p. 216
  • Topsfield, Andrew, An introduction to Indian Court Painting, H.M.S.O., London, 1984, 0112903835 p. 41, cat. no. 34.
  • Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills : a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting / by W. G. Archer ; foreword by Sherman E. Lee. London :Delhi: Sotheby Parke Bernet ;Oxford University Press, 1973 Number: 0856670022 p. 378, cat. no. 33
  • Swallow, D., Stronge, S., Crill, R., Koezuka, T., editor and translator, "The Art of the Indian Courts. Miniature Painting and Decorative Arts", Victoria & Albert Museum and NHK Kinki Media Plan, 1993. p. 126, cat. no. 110
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IS.23-1974

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Record createdFebruary 7, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74035/raja-ajmat-dev-painting-unknown/
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