id: 314140 accession number: 2018.89 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.89 updated: 2022-01-04 18:08:34.183000 Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (r. 1661–75) Smoking a Hookah, c. 1680. Northern India, Himachal Pradesh, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba. Gum tempera and gold on paper; page: 21.7 x 28.8 cm (8 9/16 x 11 5/16 in.); image: 17.2 x 24.4 cm (6 3/4 x 9 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.89 title: Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (r. 1661–75) Smoking a Hookah title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1680 creation date earliest: 1675 creation date latest: 1685 current location: creditline: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund copyright: --- culture: Northern India, Himachal Pradesh, Pahari Kingdom of Chamba technique: gum tempera and gold on paper department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Page: 21.7 x 28.8 cm (8 9/16 x 11 5/16 in.); Image: 17.2 x 24.4 cm (6 3/4 x 9 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: gulerīyā rāja bikrama siṃgha translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Indian Gallery 242 Rotation opening date: 2018-09-10T04:00:00 Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10, 2018-April 7, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-2018 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2018- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Raja Bikram Singh was famed for his physical strength and could break a coconut into pieces with his fingers digital description: The portrait of Raja Bikram Singh is the earliest depiction of a Guler chief and was produced in Chamba, possibly under the patronage of Raja Chattar Singh (r. 1664–90). The painting bears several features of early portraiture in Chamba—a straight Hookah pipe, striped trousers, large bolsters, and the sitting posture of the raja. wall description: An early example of portraiture in the western Himalayan court, this painting shows a regional king, with a distinctive pockmarked face, who has adopted hookah smoking, a courtly pleasure of his Mughal overlords. Raja Bikram Singh fought for the Mughal emperor Alamgir (reigned 1658–1707),so his accessories include Mughal weaponry, such as the long curved sword and piercing dagger. Both he and his attendant have Mughal sashes with lavishly embroidered flowering plants. The attendant is rendered smaller than the king, indicating his lesser importance. His trousers and tunic are tied under his arm in the Mughal style, and he holds a peacock-feather whisk over his king’s head—an ancient Indian emblem of nobility. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2018.89/2018.89_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2018.89/2018.89_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2018.89/2018.89_full.tif