- Title
- Maharaja Ajit Singh (reigned 1676-1725) and the Dancer Chhabrup
- Date Made
- dated 1814
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, gold, silver, and ink on paper; marbled paper border with gold
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 12 1/16 x 8 1/2 in. (30.64 x 21.59 cm); Image: 11 x 7 1/2 in. (27.94 x 19.05 cm)
- Accession Number
- AC1994.59.4
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
The nimbate male ruler leaning out the palace window is identified by inscriptions on the front and back of the painting as Maharaja Ajit Singh of Jodhpur (reigned 1676–1725). The demure woman in the blue shawl being led by her companion is identified as the dancer Chhabrup. Ajit Singh is eagerly awaiting her arrival and performance. The composition carries a romantic overtone as it recalls images of a lover awaiting the arrival of his beloved. A poetic verse inscribed on the back reads, “while seeing her lover approach, the lady lost her luster, just as birds in trees are startled on hearing gunfire.” (Translation by Naval Krishna.) The painting is dated the thirteenth day of the fortnight, Mrigsar [January-February], [v.s.] 1872 [CE 1814].
The patronage of music and dance performances was an important part of the court life of the Rajputs, and it was not uncommon for intimacy to develop between patrons and performers. That this liaison was portrayed nearly a hundred years after the king’s death suggests that his relationship with Chhabrup had taken on a legendary quality.
Dancers such as Chhabrup, whose sole responsibility was to please the king, were often more than performers. Trained in dance and singing, many were also educated in literature and poetry, and some were poets themselves. They were instrumental to the transmission, preservation, and development of various branches of the humanities.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya; Markel, Stephen; Leoshko, Janice. Pleasure Gardens of the Mind: Indian Paintings from the Jane Greenough Green Collection. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd.: Los Angeles, 1993.
