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Raja Dhian Singh
Unknown - Enlarge image
Raja Dhian Singh
- Object:
Painting
- Place of origin:
Lahore, Pakistan (probably, made)
- Date:
ca. 1838 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
- Credit Line:
Given by O. E. Dickinson
- Museum number:
IS.117-1953
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This portrait depicts Raja Dhian Singh (1796-1843) and was painted by an unknown artist in the Sikh kingdom of the Panjab, probably in about 1838. The region, now divided between India and Pakistan, flourished under the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r. 1801-1839) and attracted artists from the Hindu kingdoms of the nearby Punjab Hills.
Senior members of the court circle were as likely to be Hindus or Muslims as Sikhs, and Raja Dhian Singh was a member of the influential Hindu Dogra family. He was close to Ranjit Singh, and in 1818 was appointed "deorhidar" or chamberlain of the royal household. By 1827 he had become the principal minister of the Maharaja. The painting was from the collection of Lord Auckland (Governor-General of India from 1836 to 1842), who visited the Sikh court in 1838. He brought the painting back to to England in 1842, and it was given to the museum by his great-nephew, O.E. Dickinson, in 1953.
