id: 170846 accession number: 2013.330.a share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.330.a updated: 2023-01-11 22:05:38.858000 Portrait of Raja Ram Singh of Amber (r. 1667-1688) with a Deccan Sword (recto), c. 1680–85. India, Mughal, 17th century. Opaque watercolor on paper (recto); page: 30.4 x 18.5 cm (11 15/16 x 7 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.330.a title: Portrait of Raja Ram Singh of Amber (r. 1667-1688) with a Deccan Sword (recto) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1680–85 creation date earliest: 1675 creation date latest: 1690 current location: creditline: Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection copyright: --- culture: India, Mughal, 17th century technique: opaque watercolor on paper (recto) department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art - Mughal type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Page: 30.4 x 18.5 cm (11 15/16 x 7 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Art of the Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections. University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (March 4-31, 1968). * Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 2, 2014-January 5, 2015). --- PROVENANCE (Maggs Brothers, London, UK, Bulletin No. 12, September 1967, no. 11, sold to Ralph Benkaim) date: ?-September 1967 footnotes: citations: Ralph Benkaim [1914-2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: September 1967-2013 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2013- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The sensitive, naturalistic rendering of weariness and forbearance in the face belies the trappings of favor bestowed on Ram Singh by the Mughal emperors Shah Jahan and Alamgir, whom he served as courtier and general between 1643 and 1688. He was a Hindu ruler from the kingdom of Amber in Rajasthan, under the control of the Mughal empire. Spending most of his life at the imperial court or leading military expeditions for the Mughals, this portrait was included in a Mughal album and inscribed with an Urdu verse indicating his value to the empire: "wherever he has led an expedition, victory is his." He wears a sumptuous coat of honor with a fur collar, woven with gold threads and floral sprigs and costly rubies, emeralds, and pearls. The straight sword with enameled hilt may be the one gifted to him by the emperor upon his succession to the throne as king of Amber in 1667. His long history of service at the imperial court, however, was checkered with troubles, including his allegiances with failed successors of Shah Jahan and the escape of the rebel Shivaji under his watch. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. page number: url: Branfoot, Crispin, ed. Portraiture in South Asia Since the Mughals: Art, Representation and History. London; New York: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2018. page number: Reproduced: pl. 11 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.330.a/2013.330.a_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.330.a/2013.330.a_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.330.a/2013.330.a_full.tif