1995.140: Seated Woman

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1995.140

People

Gopilal, Indian

Title

Seated Woman

Other Titles

Former Title: Muslim Courtesan

Classification

Paintings

Work Type

painting

Date

c. 1875

Places

Creation Place: South Asia, India, Rajasthan, Marwar

Culture

Indian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/310686

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions

25.5 x 17.5 cm (10 1/16 x 6 7/8 in.)
framed: 48.58 x 38.42 x 2.22 cm (19 1/8 x 15 1/8 x 7/8 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift in gratitude to John Coolidge, Gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr., Anonymous Fund in memory of Henry Berg, Louise Haskell Daly, Alpheus Hyatt, Richard Norton Memorial Funds and through the generosity of Albert H. Gordon and Emily Rauh Pulitzer; formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr.

Accession Year

1995

Object Number

1995.140

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary

Label text from exhibition “Company to Crown: Perceptions and Reactions in British India,” April 8–October 15, 2011, curated by Maliha Noorani, 2009–11 Norma Jean Calderwood Curatorial Fellow, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art, Harvard Art Museums:

A Young Begum
Marwar, Rajasthan, India, c. 1875
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Signed Gopilal
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift in gratitude to John Coolidge, Gift of Leslie Cheek, Jr., Anonymous Fund in memory of Henry Berg, Louise Haskell Daly, Alpheus Hyatt, Richard Norton Memorial Funds and through the generosity of Albert H. Gordon and Emily Rauh Pulitzer; formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, Jr., 1995.140

During the Crown Raj period, toward the end of the nineteenth century, Rajasthani nobles often commissioned paintings modeled after European portraiture to attest to their status. With the advent of photography in India, local artists increasingly employed photographs as painting aids, appropriating studio photography’s compositional and stylistic elements, as is evident in this portrait. Seated in a Victorian chair among Roman columns, lush drapery with heavy tassels, and a plush, meticulously rendered emerald carpet, this Begum (an honorific title given to an aristocratic woman) is surrounded by modern luxuries that reflect European tastes. As befits a young Begum, the subject’s pose is formal and demure. Her elaborate jewelry conveys her wealth and stature: in particular, the portrait pendant of the Maharaja reflects the common practice among Rajputs to wear necklaces bearing the likeness of their family’s patron deity to indicate clan identity.

Publication History

• Stuart Cary Welch, Room for Wonder : Indian Painting During the British Period, 1760-1880, exh. cat., American Federation of Arts (New York, NY, 1978), Page 146-147/Figure 65
• Naveen Patnaik and Stuart Cary Welch, A Second Paradise: Indian Courtly Life, 1590-1947, Doubleday & Co. (Garden City, NY, 1985), page 133, 184/figure 55
• Elizabeth Finch, ed., Rajasthani Miniatures: The Welch Collection from the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, exh. cat., The Drawing Center (New York, NY, 1997), page 40

Exhibition History

• From Infancy to Old Age, A Gallery of Indians, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/27/1993 - 04/25/1993
• Rajasthani Miniatures: The Welch Collection at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, The Drawing Center, New York, 04/16/1997 - 06/07/1997
• Re-View: S231 (Islamic rotation: 7) Company to Crown, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/08/2011 - 10/15/2011

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