Maharaja Jai Singh of Amber and Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marwar, Folio from the Amber Album

Enlarge My gallery Comment Tag Share Download Image*
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/collections.lacma.org-images/remote_images/ma-49681-O3.jpg?fOrG0CIWu1brgEm5MYQ4YZAB3Osh5Lf8
View comments
No comments have been posted yet.
Add a comment
Please log in to add comments.
Enter your LACMA Collections username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
New to our collections website? Sign up to create an account and start saving your favorites. Please note that this account is not the same as the MyLACMA account you may have for ticketing and membership transactions.
Download powerpoint quality jpeg Download publication quality tiff
Current tags
This item has not been tagged yet.
Please log in to add tags.
Enter your LACMA Collections username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
New to our collections website? Sign up to create an account and start saving your favorites. Please note that this account is not the same as the MyLACMA account you may have for ticketing and membership transactions.
* Nearly 20,000 images of artworks the museum believes to be in the public domain are available to download on this site. Other images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. By using any of these images you agree to LACMA's Terms of Use.

Maharaja Jai Singh of Amber and Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marwar, Folio from the Amber Album

India, Rajasthan, Amber, circa 1630
Drawings; watercolors
Opaque watercolor, gold, gesso, and ink on paper
Image: 9 7/8 x 7 1/4 in. (25.08 x 18.42 cm); Sheet: 17 3/4 x 13 1/2 in. (45.09 x 34.29 cm)
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.80.6.6)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

This painting has been reidentified by Catherine Glynn and Ellen Smart (1997) as depicting Maharaja Jai Singh of Amber (r. 1621-1667; right) enthroned with Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marwar (r....
This painting has been reidentified by Catherine Glynn and Ellen Smart (1997) as depicting Maharaja Jai Singh of Amber (r. 1621-1667; right) enthroned with Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marwar (r. 1619-1638; left). It was previously thought to represent Gaj Singh and the Mughal Prince Shah Shuja, despite the correct identifications given in the Hindi inscriptions above them. Jai Singh assumed the throne at the age of twelve during the reign of Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-16217). He later supported Prince Aurangzeb in a successful bid for the throne and served him with distinction by subduing the Maratha ruler Shivaji (r. 1674-1680). In 1666, however, Jai Singh incurred the wrath of Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) by failing to capture the Bijapur Fort. Aurangzeb then conspired with Jai Singh’s youngest son to award him the throne of Amber over his elder brother if he would poison his father in 1667. Gaj Singh ruled Marwar, one of the leading Rajput courts in Rajasthan. In 1615 he attended Jahangir’s court and fought against Prince Khurram, the future Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658), when Khurram rebelled against the emperor in 1622-1624. Gaj Singh, reconciled with Shah Jahan, was appointed governor of the Deccan in 1633. He died in Agra in 1638. The floral border with gold flowering plants, along with a variant on the reverse with a vacant space for calligraphy, corroborates the Amber attribution based on comparison with other known folios from the Amber Album. See also M.2001.24.
More...

Bibliography

  • Seligman, Thomas K., and Usha R. Balakrishnan. Enduring Splendor: Jewelry of India's Thar Desert. Los Angeles: Regents of the University of California, 2017.
  • Rosenfield, John.  The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection.  Boston:  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
  • Seligman, Thomas K., and Usha R. Balakrishnan. Enduring Splendor: Jewelry of India's Thar Desert. Los Angeles: Regents of the University of California, 2017.
  • Rosenfield, John.  The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection.  Boston:  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
  • Donahue, Kenneth.  X, a Decade of Collecting:  1965-1975.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1975.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting.  New York: The Gallery Association of New York State, 1978.
  • Heeramaneck, Alice N.  Masterpieces of Indian Painting : From the Former Collections of Nasli M. Heeramaneck.  New York:  A.N. Heeramaneck, 1984.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya, Thomas W. Lentz, Sheila R. Canby, Edwin Binney, 3rd, Walter B. Denny, and Stephen Markel. "Arts from Islamic Cultures: Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 17, no. 6 (November/December 1987): 73-130.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya, Janice Leoshko, Joseph M. Dye, III,  Stephen Markel.  Romance of the Taj Mahal.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Painting, vol.1. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1993.
More...