Inscribed above in Hindi: chabi Rana ji ri sri Jagat Singh ji ri janami chab ri (picture of the women of Rana Jagat Singh)

Jagat Singh (reg.1734-73) of Mewar is depicted sitting on a throne in his zenana watching a dancing girl accompanied by female musicians, while other women chat among themselves. They hold the royal chowrie and parasol and the solar standard of Mewar. The Rana is smoking from an unusual hookah, apparently a gold vase being held by one of his women. More usually he favoured another type of hookah shaped as a golden male figure in court dress (eg Topsfield 1980 col pl.1; Topsfield 2002, figs 155,161, 162 etc).

Jagat Singh is the subject of numerous portraits enjoying the court festiviites, including a whole series of the various stages of the Raslila performance in the palace at Udaipur. Here in a more intimate scene he is presiding over a dance display with accompanying musicians. Unusually the artist has put considerable thought into the composition so that the Rana with his vast triangular skirts spreading about his throne is depicted at the apex of a pyramid of forms.

Literature

Topsfield, A. 'Paintings from Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria' Melbourne 1980
Topsfield. A. 'Court Painting at Udaipur: Art under the Patroangeof the Maharanas of Mewar' Artibus Asiae, Zurich, 2002