Rajput Nobleman
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1630-1640
notes: label: School/Tradition
content: Ajmer school
label: Label
content: Against a deep chocolate ground scattered with massive flowers, a Rajput nobleman stands in profile holding a bouquet that conveys his refinement. He wears a diaphanous jama of fine muslin over yellow churidar pants. The prototype for a portrait in this style was imperial. Mughal artists produced portraits of Rajput noblemen for imperial albums, and as gifts. The relatively unmodulated forms, the chocolate ground, and the large flowering plants that surround the thakur are evidence of local production, perhaps in Ajmer.
label: Provenance
content: To 1947
label: Provenance
content: Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1947 to 1972
label: Provenance
content: Rama Coomaraswamy (1929-2006), Greenwich, Connecticut, by gift or inheritance after his father, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy’s death in 1947 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1972 to 2001
label: Provenance
content: Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Rama Coomaraswamy, Greenwich, Connecticut in May 1972
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: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] Rama Coomaraswamy was the son of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, an important figure in the field of Indian and Sri Lankan art history. Coomaraswamy was largely responsible for providing the conceptual structures through which South Asian art became studied and valued in India and in the west. Because A.K. Coomaraswamy spent the second half of his life in the U.S., it is highly unlikely that any art from his personal collection would have a contested provenance.
label: Provenance
content: [2] According to information from Catherine Glynn Benkaim.
label: Collection
content: National Museum of Asian Art Collection
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Rama Coomaraswamy (1929-2006)
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: perhaps Ajmer, Rajasthan state, India
topic: label: Topic
content: portrait
label: Topic
content: man
label: Topic
content: India
label: Topic
content: South Asian and Himalayan Art
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: S2018.1.27
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Opaque watercolor on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 14.6 × 9.9 cm (5 3/4 × 3 7/8 in)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 31.1 × 22.9 cm (12 1/4 × 9 in)