Durbar hall, unidentified, Maratha school, c.1820

Source:  A Second Paradise: Indian Courtly Life 1590-1947, by Naveen Patnaik (New York: Metropolitan Museum, 1985), p. 113; scan by FWP, Sept. 2001

"Durbar Hall. Unidentified Maratha school; c. 1820; 31.5 x 24.5 cm. Private collection."

"With the weakening of Mughal power, the Marathas spread from their homelands in the Deccan and established principalities in many parts of northern India. Wearing a characteristic Maratha turban and smoking his huqqa (hookah), this royal personage gives audience in the perspective of a splendid hall of whitewashed stone enriched with the blue and white striped daris (dhurries), carpets, and imported glass oil lamps." (A Second Paradise, p. 184)