Object Details
- School/Tradition
- Datia school
- Description
- Dressed in an ink blue jama and a rich orange turban with a matching wave-patterned (leheriya) sash (patka), Nawal Singh sits beneath a cool white canopy. An enormous amber-colored bolster with gold leaf-shaped motifs supports him. Suitable to his status, attendants wait on him and one waves a peacock feathered fly-whisk (morchal), a symbol of royalty.
- Inscriptions
- An inscription at the top identifies Nawal Singh as a high-ranking civil officer (diwan).
- Provenance
- From 1750 to ?
- The Maharaja of the princely State of Datia.
- To 1964
- Ray E. Lewis (1923-2005), San Francisco, California. [1]
- From 1964 to 2001
- Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Ray E. Lewis in May 1964. [2]
- From 2001 to 2018
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [3]
- From 2018
- Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [4]
- Notes:
- [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in 1964 from R.E. Lewis, San Francisco, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim.
- [2] See note 1.
- [3] See note 1.
- [4] See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.
- Collection
- National Museum of Asian Art Collection
- Previous custodian or owner
- Maharaja of Datia (active 18th century)
- R. E. Lewis, Inc. (active 1952-1999)
- Ralph and Catherine Benkaim
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- ca. 1750
- Credit Line
- Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (painting): 29.2 × 21.3 cm (11 1/2 × 8 3/8 in)
- H x W (overall): 32.8 × 24.7 cm (12 15/16 × 9 3/4 in)
- Type
- Painting
