Maharana Ari Singh (reg. 1761-73) hunting a boar with a lance, together with Jodoji, his dhabhai (foster-brother)
Udaipur, attributed to Kesu Ram, circa 1762
gouache and gold on paper, black and red borders, inscribed and dated in nagari script verso
272 x 457 mm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Spink and Son, London.
John Fortune, 1997-2013.
Emma Burge, 2014-2022.

The inscription on the reverse mentions Maharana Ari Singh's name twice, and has the date VS 1818/AD 1761-1762.

For the painter Kesu Ram, active alongside others such as Bhima, Bhopa and Nathu, see A. Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, pp. 199-208.

When considering this painting, and the previous lot (32), it is interesting to note that Maharana Ari Singh died 'struck by a treacherous lance-stroke delivered by Ajit Singh of Bundi while hunting, with the collusion of the disaffected Mewar nobles'. He was known for his arrogance and bad temper, and was possibly responsible for the death of his nephew (as part of the internecine and unpleasant court intrigues at Udaipur in this period). His 'oppressiveness and vile temper had, within a few years, entirely alienated the sardars' (A. Topsfield, Court Painting at Udaipur, Zurich 2002, p. 193; ibid, Paintings from Rajasthan in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1980, p. 13).