Detail of Maharaja Sardar Singh of Bikaner in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2019

Maharaja Sardar Singh of Bikaner
ca. 1860–70


Object Details

Title: Maharaja Sardar Singh of Bikaner

Artist: Chotu

Date: ca. 1860–70

Culture: India (Rajasthan, Bikaner)

Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Dimensions: 16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1996

Accession Number: 1996.100.7


Maharaja Sardar Singh (r. 1851–72) is captured here in an extraordinary portrait whose creator was undoubtedly aware of the inroads photography was making among royal patrons. At first glance, the work seems one of almost photographic realism. However, Chotu has carefully manipulated the painting's elements to play two and three-dimensional forms against one another, achieving a slightly surreal effect that is heightened by the composition's commanding symmetry, even down to the cleft beard and the bosses on the shield. The regularity is offset by the asymmetry of the pleated shawl and garment and by the fantastical turban, which is like some postmodern assemblage crowning the brooding visage.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38044