11Story

22 January 2010

Portrait of a Gur Vazir

 

Portrait of a Gur Vazir. Unknown artist, Pahari / Basoli style. Basohli, circa 1720 Photograph. Original painting on paper. 26.45 x 142 cm © Trustees of the British Museum 1948, 1009, 0.1 Original acquired with the assistance of The Art Fund

For Rajput rulers, the use of perspective allowed the body to bear or express, in clothes, jewellery, weapons, flowers and gesture, the trappings of rulership as visually coded in the Mughal aristocracy on which they modelled their lesser domains. That defined the role to which the individual likeness of the performer was largely irrelevant, except perhaps in the case of minor figures whose status matched a lesser emphasis on role.   Shown here is portrait of just such a local ruler in the western foothills of the Himalayas, and thus far from the main centre of power. The inscription confirms this as a finished work so it is significant that whilst the face registers strong individuality, the more ‘political’ body is merely sketched.

 
 
 

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