Rao Ram Chandra of Bedla on a swing
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1740s
name: label: Artist
content: Attributed to Shahji
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Mewar school
label: Label
content: An inscription in the upper margin in nagari identifies the subject as Rao Sri Ram Chand, ruler of the thikana of Bedla, which was part of the Mewar kingdom. On a canopied swing, the nobleman sits with his arm affectionately draped across his consorts shoulders and holding her hand. It is night, the jewelry and gold-embrodiered garments of Ramchand and his attendants gleam against the dark garden setting.
label: Label
content: The painting is very much in the style of Amar Singh II (r. 1698-1710) painting, with whom Rao Ramchand was intimately connected as his daughter, Maharani Dev Kunwar, had married the Mewar ruler.
label: Provenance
content: To 1969
label: Provenance
content: Indian Arts Palace, New Delhi [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1969 to 2001
label: Provenance
content: Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Indian Arts Palace, New Delhi in November 1969 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 2001 to 2018
label: Provenance
content: Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001
label: Provenance
content: From 2018
label: Provenance
content: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim
label: Provenance
content: [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting from Indian Arts Palace, New Delhi in November 1969, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to Ralph Benkaim’s personal records, as relayed by Catherine Glynn Benkaim.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Collection
content: National Museum of Asian Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: A Flower from Every Meadow: Indian Paintings from American Collections (April 12, 1973 to November 11, 1973)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Indian Arts Palace
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Ralph and Catherine Benkaim
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Catherine Glynn Benkaim (born 1946)
place: label: Origin
content: Mewar, Rajasthan state, India
topic: label: Topic
content: night
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: man
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
label: Topic
content: attendant
label: Topic
content: Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
setName: label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: S2018.1.24
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 32.4 × 22.3 cm (12 3/4 × 8 3/4 in)