Untitled

Ambav

ca. 1868 · Opaque watercolor with gold on paper, inscribed in devanagari on the reverse · Asian Art

The Maharaja of Mewar, Rajasthan, Sovan Singh, is seen playing pachisi (modern parcheesi), a traditional cross and circle game known since the medieval period in India, with his courtier Chundawat Sarup Singh. Together they are seated in a white marble pavilion against a brilliant yellow background. The artist is named in the inscription on the reverse as Ambav, a follower (and likely a pupil) of the renowned Mewar court painter Tara. Together they represented the last generation of court painters in Rajasthan, who were soon to be displaced by a new technology, the glass-plate negative camera and the albumen print.

Artist

Ambav

Date

ca. 1868

Medium

Opaque watercolor with gold on paper, inscribed in devanagari on the reverse

Culture

India, Udaipur, Mewar, Rajasthan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky Fund, 2019