Page 188 - March 23 2022 Boinghams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED
WEST COAST COLLECTION
479
A PORTRAIT OF A RULER SMOKING A HOOKAH
NORTH INDIA, PUNJAB HILLS, MANKOT, CIRCA 1710
Folio 8¬ x 12¬ in. (21.9 x 32.1 cm.)
Image 7Ω x 11æ in. (19.1 x 29.8 cm.)
$30,000-50,000
PROVENANCE:
Acquired from Dr. William Ehrenfeld, San Francisco, 1985,
by repute.

In this striking portrait, a dignified ruler smokes a hookah while
attended by two pages. The young boy tending to the ruler’s hookah
and the attendant fanning him with a peacock morchha each
wear elegantly patterned jama which contrast with the glistening
white jama and turban of the raja. The ruler is accessorized with
a vibrantly patterned waist scarf, gold and jewel inlayed pendant,
bangle, earrings and turban ornament, and a fine sword, dagger
and katar set. His forehead is prominently marked with a Vaishnava
tilaka. The floor is layered with patterned carpets, one running the
length of the scene, a smaller floral carpet for the ruler and a small
circular matt on which the hookah is positioned. No detail is spared
in this distinguished painting.
The varied color scheme is magnificently flamboyant, while the
lines are confidently controlled. The quality of the painting takes
after an earlier portrait of Raja Mahapit Dev of Mankot, ascribed
to the Master at the Court of Mankot circa 1670-80 (published in
B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters, New Delhi, 2009
(reprint), pp. 100-101, no. 36). The Master of the Court of Mankot,
ascribed to be a painter by the name of Meju, was active at the
Mankot Court between 1680 and 1730. Meju created numerous
portraits and illustrations to sacred epics and ragamalas. His work
is characterized by monochromatic backgrounds of green or ochre,
highlighted by dominant colors detailing the figures and objects.
Other portraits attributed to the Mankot master include a portrait
of the Vaishnav priest Gosain Ramji in the Kronos Collection and
an earlier painting of Raja Mahipat Dev of Mankot at Prayer at the
Rietberg Museum. The style and quality of such portraits bear great
comparability to the present painting, it being possible the present
lot was created by the hand of Meju as well.
The work lacks an inscription, so it is difficult to ascertain the
identity of the subject. A portrait of Kirpal Pal, the Maharaja of
Basohli (r. circa 1678-1693) in the Howard Hodgkin Collection
(Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art, LI118.37) bears
resemblance to the figure in the present painting, which could be
a possible identification of the figure; however, that identification is
complicated by the fact that the present subject is wearing a stone-
inlay pendant different from the Mughal heirloom Kirpal Pal is most
often depicted with.

186