Gouache on paper 14.1 x 10.5 in. (35.8 x 26.7 cm.) Front: “Shri Shri Maharanaji Shri Bhim Singhji ganga-jamani chhildari me birajya chataro Chokho bakhtavat, sa. 1854” Back: “Shri Shri Maharanaji Shri Bhim Singhji ganga-jamani chhildari me birajya chataro Chokho” Maharana Bhim Singh of Mewar, the 67th custodian of the house of Mewar was a great patron of the art of painting and evidently commissioned a large amount of some of the best works (qualitative and quantitative) produced in Mewar. Bhim Singh’s zenana depictions are elaborate, usually inclusive of a number of female figures bustling about the surrounding. His ‘higher than a normal human’ stature is rendered by a large nimbus around his face, his golden outfits and bejewelled pearl and gold ornaments and a zigzag patterned golden-silver canopy (often called as ganga-jamani childari). Arched frame along the edges of the composition followed by a finely carved jali adds to the overall grandeur. This work appears to be done in collaboration by Chokha and Baijnath.

Mughal Library