Gouache on paper 10.5 x 15.5 in. (26.7 x 39.4 cm.) Back: “Paano Rao Bahadar Sangh ji ka mela ki asawari” A ceremonious procession of return from a mela (fair) was attended by a number of courtiers and guards around an unidentifiable ruler being carried in a palanquin. Composition is depicted in reverse perspective, where figures in foreground are smaller in proportion than those in the background. The upper most row has camel guards, the middle one has a royal palanquin and in the foreground is infantry. Most of the soldiers and courtiers in the composition are shown holding guns and javelins. Spontaneity of the brush work and prominent use of primary and secondary colour scale and folksy figure types hints at central Indian influence on a regional (or a smaller thikana) style.

Mughal Library