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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2009.202.196
Title
A Royal Figure and Several Courtesans Engaged in Amorous Activities
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1840
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Rajasthan, Kota
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/217612

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Green-brown ink on blue-gray paper; pricked; Rajput Style, Kota School
Dimensions
14.8 x 14.5 cm (5 13/16 x 5 11/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Stuart Cary Welch (by 1979 - 2008,) by descent; to his estate (2008-2009,) gift; to Harvard Art Museum.

Notes:
Object was part of temporary loan to Museum in 1979.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Gift of Edith I. Welch in memory of Stuart Cary Welch
Accession Year
2009
Object Number
2009.202.196
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The fragmentary drawing depicts a royal figure engaging in amorous activities with three courtesans. The royal figure’s status is indicated by the bejeweled turban ornament. On the left is a partial rendering of a pair of hands holding up a mirror to the royal figure. Rajput style, Kota school.

Publication History

  • Kavita Singh, "Congress of Kings: Notes on a Painting of Muhammad Shah Rangeela Having Sex", Marg: A Magazine of the Arts (Mumbai, June-September 2023), vol. 74, no. 4 and vol. 75, no. 1, pp. 250-257, pp. 252, 255, fig. 11
  • Philip Rawson, Die Erotische Kunst des Ostens (Hamburg, 1969), col. pl. VI
  • Stuart Cary Welch and Kim Masteller, From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from the Stuart Cary Welch Collection, exh. cat., Yale University Press (New Haven, 2004), p. 32, fig. 26 (detail); p. 166-167, no. 56
  • Anna Jackson, Amin Jaffer, and Deepika Ahlawat, ed., Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Court, Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2009), pp 63, fig. 46

Exhibition History

  • Indian and Persian Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/25/1987 - 06/21/1987
  • Linear Graces ... and Disgraces: Part I, Drawings from the Courts of Persia, Turkey, and India, 15th-19th Centuries, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/15/1994 - 12/11/1994
  • From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from SCWelch, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 03/19/2005 - 06/02/2005
  • Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 10/10/2009 - 01/17/2010; Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, 02/12/2010 - 05/24/2010

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu