Thakur Padam Singh  thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Thakur Padam Singh

Painting
1721 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Padam Singh ruled over the small town of Ghanerao, on the borders between Mewar and Marwar in Rajasthan, from 1720 to 1742. He was an enthusiastic patron of painting, and several portraits of him and his courtiers survive. This one has a rather informal setting, and shows Padam Singh seated in the centre of a group of nobles armed with rifles and daggers, a musician, a bearer with a peacock-feather fan and several dogs. He is facing a female attendant who offers him a wine-cup.
An inscription on the reverse of the painting states that it was done by an artist named Manno in AD 1721, at Ajmer. The style of the painting (which is basically a rather unrefined version of the Jodhpur court style) suggests that Manno was an artist from Ghanerao rather than Ajmer, who perhaps had accompanied his master on a hunting expedition to Ajmer.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThakur Padam Singh (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Brief description
Painting, Thakur Padam Singh of Ghanerao with courtiers, by Manna, opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Ajmer, dated 1721
Physical description
Painting, in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, Raja Padam Singh of Ghanerao seated in an intimate group with several nobles and male attendants, a Brahmin, a musician, a diminuative serving girl, one large and two small dogs. The Thakur, dressed in a transparent white jama, sits against a magenta and green bolster on a floral carpet, with sword and katar in front of him. He and the nobles drink liquor; two of the nobles hold firearms. The foreground is coloured grey, the background muted green. A band of blue sky streaked with white clouds runs along the top.
Dimensions
  • Height: 242mm
  • Width: 310mm
05/06/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013.
Content description
Raja Padam Singh of Ghanerao seated in an intimate group with several nobles and male attendants, a Brahmin, a musician, a diminuative serving girl, one large and two small dogs
Style
Object history
For another painting, in the Prince of Wales Museum, said to be of Raja Padam Singh of Ghanerao, see W. G. Archer, Indian miniatures, London, 1960, pl. 57. Also, a standing portrait of Padam Singh was formerly in the collection of Kumar Sangram Singh.
Production
The inscription on the reverse states that it was painted by the artist Manna, from Ghanerao, in VS 1778 (AD 1721).
Subjects depicted
Summary
Padam Singh ruled over the small town of Ghanerao, on the borders between Mewar and Marwar in Rajasthan, from 1720 to 1742. He was an enthusiastic patron of painting, and several portraits of him and his courtiers survive. This one has a rather informal setting, and shows Padam Singh seated in the centre of a group of nobles armed with rifles and daggers, a musician, a bearer with a peacock-feather fan and several dogs. He is facing a female attendant who offers him a wine-cup.
An inscription on the reverse of the painting states that it was done by an artist named Manno in AD 1721, at Ajmer. The style of the painting (which is basically a rather unrefined version of the Jodhpur court style) suggests that Manno was an artist from Ghanerao rather than Ajmer, who perhaps had accompanied his master on a hunting expedition to Ajmer.
Bibliographic references
  • R.Crill, Marwar Painting: A History of the Jodhpur Style (Mumbai, India Book House, 2000), p.82. R.Crill, 'The Thakurs of Ghanerao as patrons of painting' in A.Topsfield (ed.), Court Painting in Rajasthan, (Mumbai, Marg, 2000), p.97.
  • The Indian Portrait: 1560-1860 London: National Portrait Gallery, 2010 Number: 978 1 85514 409 5 p. 120, cat. no. 36.
  • Ayers, J. Oriental Art in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1983, ISBN 0-85667-120-7 p. 78
Collection
Accession number
IS.12-1978

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Record createdDecember 29, 2005
Record URL
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