Rao Lakhpatji (1707- 61) of Kutch, riding a bay horse, surrounded by attendants. There are two attendants behind the prince, one carrying a morchal, and the other a fan which acts as a nimbus for the Prince. By the side of the horse another holds a hookah, perhaps made of glass with gold decoration. A fourth carrying a staff leads the procession.

The painting shows the Prince wearing a rich brocaded orange jama [For the same Jama see Galloway’s Jharokha Portrait of the same prince], a similar fan is also present in the said painting.

Literature:

·         B.N.Goswamy & A.L. Dallapiccola, A Place Apart: Painting in Kutch 1720 1820, 1983

·         B.N. Goswamy Painting in Kutch: Surprises and Delight, in Marg The Arts of Kutch

·         B. N. Goswamy and A. L. Dallapiccola, Preliminary notes on a group of miniatures Painting in Kutch in Artibus Asiae, Vol. 40, No. 1 (1978), pp. 62-74   

·         F. Galloway, http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/aany2002/mainpages/32a.html , retrieved on Friday 23rd January 2009

·         R. Crill, Marwar painting A History of the Jodhpur Style. Fig. 18, 19, 67, 72 p97.

Extra information:

Galloway:

Maharao Lakhpatji (r.1741 60) was probably the most important and innovative of the rulers of Kutch. He was a pivotal figure in the development of Kutch painting of which little was known prior to the 18th century.
It is thought that the major influences came from Mewar and Malwa with whom Kutch had both strong political and matrimonial links.

In 1741, aged 34, Latkhpatji peacefully seized control of the court at Bhuj and in 1752 he became on the death of his father, the popular and versatile Rao Desalji. Latkhpatji was the first Kutch ruler to visit the Mughal court, attending the durbar of the Emperor Muhammad Shah, and was granted the royal title of Mirza Maharao in 1757.

Maharaja Bakhat Singh visited Rao Lakhpatji of Kutch while he was ruler of Nagaur (between 1740 and his accession to the Jodhpur throne in 1751). He took with him a group of artists who recorded his visit at Kutch and probably painted this portrait of Rao Lakhpatji and Rao Desalji as well as several well known durbar and processional scenes. Large scale Rajasthani portraiture is rare and these two portraits are extremely similar to the Jharokha portrait of Maharaja Bakhat Singh circa 1740 now in the Goenka Collection and another portrait in the Howard Hodgkin Collection. These similarities and attributions have been identified by Rosemary Crill in her book on Marwar Painting. She also rightly attributes the Nagaur/Jodhpur style to several durbar and processional scenes painted for Rao Lakhpatji.

A.L. Dallapiccola

Please refer to Goswamy and Dallapiccola, A Place Apart, pp. 31-33, in particular p. 32 in which the link with the ruler of Nagaur is explored.