Page 78 - Indian and Himalayan Art, March 15, 2017 Sotheby's NYC
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PROPERTY FROM THE LANIER COLLECTION                Kotah in its battles against Sawai Madho Singh
                                                   of Jaipur during the reign of Maharao Shatru Sal
MAHARAO UMED SINGH I                               I - their swords close at hand and their shields
RECEIVES ZALIM SINGH JHALA                         re exively pulled to chest height.
India, Rajasthan, Kotah,
circa 1771-80                                      A very vigorous black ink drawing created for
                                                   transfer - as evidenced by the tiny pinpricks
Ink with black chalk and white bodycolor on paper  along the ink outlined subjects and the overall
image: 12¾ by 10½ in. (30.5 by 26.6 cm)            application of black charcoal dust used for
                                                   pouncing and transfer. White bodycolor used to
PROVENANCE                                         correct outlines and clarify the composition, seen
                                                   in stark relief to the charcoal ground, heightens
Sam Fogg Ltd., London                              the abstracted e ect. Other corrected sections
Acquired mid 1990’s                                with numerous pentimenti - or rethought areas -
                                                   spread across the composition.
Maharao Umed Singh I of Kotah (r. 1771-1819)
seated with his powerful chief minister Zalim      For a detail from another drawing of the same
Singh Jhala (1730-1823) against bolsters on an     four gures and likely by the same hand see
outdoor mat beneath an awning, accompanied by      Stuart Cary Welch, Gods Kings and Tigers: the Art
a Maratha sardar and a courtier. Two attendants    of Kotah, New York, 1997 g.12, pp. 50-53.
stand behind holding a morchal and a chowrie as
symbols of royal authority. Perhaps this is a war  $ 2,500-3,500
council, Zalim Singh Jhala (wearing a Bundi-style
khadgar pagri) was commander of the army of

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