{
"data": {
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"accession_number": "2018.89",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Raja Bikram Singh of Guler smoking a hookah, c. 1678\u201390. Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Himachal Pradesh. Gum tempera, ink, 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",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Raja Bikram Singh of Guler smoking a hookah",
"creation_date": "c. 1678\u201390",
"creation_date_earliest": 1678,
"creation_date_latest": 1690,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Himachal Pradesh"
],
"technique": "gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art",
"type": "Painting",
"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.)",
"dimensions": {
"page": {
"height": 0.217,
"height_inch": 8,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5625,
"width": 0.288,
"width_inch": 11,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.3125
},
"image": {
"height": 0.172,
"height_inch": 6,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.75,
"width": 0.244,
"width_inch": 9,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.625
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "guler\u012by\u0101 r\u0101ja bikrama si\u1e43gha",
"inscription_translation": "Raja Bikram Singh of Guler",
"inscription_remark": "In \u1e6c\u0101k\u1e5b\u012b",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "On Verso\n\nDevan\u0101gari numerals: 53 \n\nArabic numerals: 2.74 \n\nEnglish notation: No.138 \n C \n\nTwo purple ink stamps: \nChughtai Museum Trust \nMian Salah Mimar Lane \n4 Garden Town \nLahore-16 Pakistan 850733 \n\nSingle black stamp in Urd\u016b: Chughtai",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 315752,
"title": "Indian Gallery 242 Rotation",
"description": "Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10, 2018-April 7, 2019).",
"opening_date": "2018-09-10T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 687839,
"title": "Longing: Painting from the Pahari Kingdoms, 1680 to 1820",
"description": "Longing: Painting from the Pahari Kingdoms, 1680 to 1820. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (February 6-June 7, 2026) https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/longing-painting-from-the-pahari-kingdoms-of-the-northwest-himalayas/.",
"opening_date": "2026-02-06T05:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": []
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Abdur Rehman Chughtai, Lahore, Pakistan",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131975",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "Muhammad Abdullah Chughtai, Lahore and New York",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "until?",
"sortorder": 2
},
{
"description": "Doris Wiener Ltd., New York, NY",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131984",
"sortorder": 3
},
{
"description": "Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Los Angeles",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "1984\u20132018",
"sortorder": 4
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": [],
"date": "2018\u2013",
"sortorder": 5
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "Raja Bikram Singh was famed for his physical strength and could break a coconut into pieces with his fingers",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"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\u201390). The painting bears several features of early portraiture in Chamba\u2014a straight Hookah pipe, striped trousers, large bolsters, and the sitting posture of the raja.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60483034"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2018.89-raja-bikram-singh-of"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 58-59, no. 6",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Cameron, Ainsley M. \u201cConsidering Painting from the Pahari Kingdoms through Sight, Sound, Smell and Touch.\u201d Arts of Asia, (Spring 2026): 79-91.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 79",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.89",
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"creditline": "Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 314140,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2018-09-04T00:00:00-04:00",
"sortable_date": 1678,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 1678\u201390",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
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"conservation_statement": null,
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"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [
"Portrait of Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (r. 1661 \u2013 75)",
"Raja Bikram Singh of Guler (reigned 1661-85) Smoking"
],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-06-10 19:04:19.453000"
}
}