Raja Karan Singh of Bikaner, Auranzeb's ally and enemy

Source: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LotDetail.asp?sid=&intObjectID=4160861&SE=CMWCAT04+108237+298696484+&QR=M+1+91+Aqc0000900+98848++Aqc0000900+&entry=india&SU=1&RQ=True&AN=92
(downloaded Sept 2003)

"PORTRAIT OF RAJA KARAN SINGH OF BIKANER (1631-1674). Mughal India, circa 1740. Gouache heightened with gold on paper, the Raja with a nimbus around his head and wearing an orange jama and with gold sword and turban and fine jewellery, attributed below in nasta'liq to Chitarman, retouched areas in ground and possibly face, mounted on card with blue margins with gold floral meander, green outer border. Folio 13½ x 10 7/8in. (34.3 x 27.6cm.); miniature 7½ x 5in. (19.2 x 12.7cm.)

Literature: Indian Miniatures from West Coast Private Collections, San Francisco, 1964, no.23, pl.XIII
McInerney, T.: "Mughal Painting during the reign of Muhammad Shah", in Schmitz, B.(ed.): After the Great Mughals, Marg, Bombay, 2002, p.33, fn.16.

Lot Notes: The McInerney article noted above discusses a number of other works by Chitarman II. Karan Singh had a long reign, alternately fighting against the expansion of the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb, then allying himself with the emperor, only to become disillusioned and lead a Hindu revolt (Goetz, Herman: Art and Architecture Bikaner State, Oxford, 1950, pp.44-6)."

A portrait probably made by a Mughal artist, in the Deccan, during Aurangzeb's military campaigns there

Source: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LotDetail.asp?sid=&intObjectID=4457064&SE=CMWCAT03+291552+%2D713590245+&QR=M+1+42+Aqc0000900+282747++Aqc0000900+&entry=india&SU=1&RQ=True&AN=43
(downloaded Feb. 2005)

"Courtier in a Landscape. India, Mughal, circa 1670. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, the courtier dressed in floral robes facing left and carrying weapons and a black shield. Folio: 9 x 6½ in. (22.9 x 16.5 cm.); image: 7¾ x 5 1/8 in. (1937 x 13 cm.). Literature:  P. Pal, S. Markel and J. Leoshko, Exhibition catalogue, Pleasure Gardens of the Mind: Indian Paintings from the Jane Greenough Green Collection, 1993, p. 128, cat. no. 43. Exhibited  Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, cat. no. 43, March-June 1993. Lot Notes: According to Pal, et. al., in Pleasure Gardens of the Mind, p. 128, the portrait of the courtier was likely made by a Mughal artist travelling in the Deccan during Aurangzeb's military campaigns in the region. Deccani influences in the painting include a more highly ornamented treatment of flora in the landscape."