Pratap Singh of Thanjavur (r. 1739-65) or Tulsaji of Thanjavur (r.1765-86)
India Company (Tanjore/Thanjavur) School
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
c. 1770
Materials
Gouache on paper in a giltwood frame
Measurements
430 mm (H); 355 mm (W)
Place of origin
India
Order this imageCollection
Powis Castle and Garden, Powys
NT 1180663
Summary
Gouache painting, gold and beetle wing on paper, Pratap Singh of Thanjavur (r. 1739-65) or his son, Tulsaji of Thanjavur (r. 1765-86), India Company (Tanjore) School, c.1770. Inscribed on reverse in English 'Pretaup Sing MahaRajah of Tanjore'. The ruler sits resting against bolsters on a carpet beneath a canopy holding a flower or flower-like rose-water sprinkler in the proper left hand. Behind the ruler stands an attendant waving a peacock feather fly-whisk. The miniature is associated with a manuscript letter dated 20 November 1800 addressed to Mr Torin [presumably Benjamin Torin], a collector of miniatures of Thanjavur (Tanjore) 'Company School' painting, from Sarabhoji II (1777-1832), the adopted son of Tulsaji. The letter accompanied a gift of three portraits from Sarabhoji II to Lady Henrietta Clive (1758-1830), wife of Edward Clive, Governor of Madras. It reads: 'I beg leave to send you these Pictures of mine, my Father Tulja MahaRajah and my Grand Father Pretaupsing MahaRajah which you will have the kindness to send these to Lady Clive' (reproduced in Archer, Rowell and Skelton 1987, p. 125, no. 182). See also NT 1180662, portrait of Sarabhoji II; the third portrait is lost. The identity of the sitter is uncertain. An historic inscription on the reverse of the picture identifies the sitter as Pratap Singh, the Maratha ruler of Thanjavur of the Bhonsle dynasty from 1739 to 1765. However a similar portrait acquired by the Fondation Custodia, Paris, from the collection of the late Sven Gahlin, an eminent scholar and collector of Indian miniatures, suggests that the sitter is instead Tulsaji of Thanjavur, Pratap Singh's son. See Fondation Custodia inv. no. 2013-T.35. According to Gahlin the inscription in English on the reverse of the present, Powis, picture is simply a mistake.
Provenance
Given as a gift to Lady Henrietta Clive (1758-1830) in 1800; one of the the three miniatures referred to in a letter of 20 November 1800 to Mr Torin, the Collector of Tanjore, from Maharaja Sarabhoji: ' I beg leave to send you these Pictures of mine, my Father Tulja Maharaja and my Grand Father Pretaupsing Maharaja which you will have the kindness to send these to Lady Clive'. Purchased by the National Trust with funding from The National Heritage Memorial Fund from John George Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis and Powis Estate Trustees in August 1999.
Marks and inscriptions
Reverse: Pretaup Sing MahaRajah of Tanjore
Makers and roles
India Company (Tanjore/Thanjavur) School , artist
References
Archer, Rowell and Skelton 1987 Mildred Archer, Christopher Rowell, and Robert Skelton, Treasures from India: The Clive Collection at Powis Castle, London, 1987, p.125, no.182 Chu 2018 John Chu, House of Portraits: Powis Castle, Swindon, 2018, p.10
