Object Details
- Court
- Mewar Court
- School/Tradition
- Rajput school
- Provenance
- ca. 1700-at least late 19th century
- Mewar Royal Collection, Udaipur, India [1]
- At least late 19th century-?
- Ownership information unknown
- ?-1982
- Unidentified dealer, London, England, method of acquisition unknown [2]
- 1982-2001
- Ralph (1914-2001) and Catherine Glynn Benkaim (owned jointly), purchased by Catherine Glynn Benkaim from Unidentified dealer in London, England [3]
- 2001-2012
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim, upon death of Ralph Benkaim [4]
- From 2012
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchase and partial gift from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [5]
- Notes:
- [1] See the unidentified Mewar Royal Collection number inscribed in red ink on the back of the object. According to Debra Diamond, Elizabeth Moynihan Curator for South Asian and Southeast Asian Art, National Museum of Asian Art, on March 27, 2023, the “notations written in red ink are from one of the two late nineteenth-century inventories of the Udaipur court paintings kept in the royal painting storeroom (jotdān).”
- See also the “Acquisition Justification,” dated April 2012, copy in object file. The “Acquisition Justification” describes the provenance as, “Ex-collection: royal Udaipur family. Catherine Benkaim acquired the cloth painting in 1982 from a dealer in London.”
- [2] See note 1.
- [3] See note 1.
- [4] See “Temporary Custody Receipt,” undated (April 16, 2012), copy in object file. The object was transferred from Catherine Glynn Benkaim to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on April 16, 2012.
- See also object file for copy of the Catherine Glynn Benkaim invoice, to Freer Gallery of Art, dated August 21, 2012.
- Ralph (1914-2001) and Catherine Glynn Benkaim were collectors of Indian painting. Mr. Benkaim was an entertainment lawyer from Los Angeles who started collecting Indian painting in 1961 and Ms. Benkaim scholar in the field of Indian painting. Mr. and Ms. Benkaim met in the 1970s when Ms. Benkaim was the curator of Indian painting at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The couple were married 1979 and together they created a fine collection of Indian paintings, which included examples from all genres. They collected objects for their collection through dealers and auctions. Objects from their collection may also be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Williams College Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, among others.
- [5] See “Appendix B Bill of Sale” and “Appendix C Donor Substantiation Letter,” dated August 20, 2012, copy in object file.
- Research updated December 1, 2023
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur (November 19, 2022 to May 14, 2023)
- Life at court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th centuries (November 20, 1985 to May 11, 1986)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Mewar Royal Collection
- Ralph and Catherine Benkaim
- Catherine Glynn Benkaim
- Credit Line
- Purchase and partial gift made in 2012 from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- ca. 1700
- Period
- Sisodia dynasty, Reign of Amar Singh II
- Accession Number
- F2012.4.2
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor and gold on cloth
- Dimensions
- H x W (Unframed measurement): 108 × 175.7 cm (42 1/2 × 69 3/16 in)
- Origin
- Udaipur, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Topic
- horse
- elephant
- rain
- Sisodia dynasty (861 - 1947)
- courtier
- palace
- India
- ruler
- South Asian and Himalayan Art
- city
- soldier
- Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
- Record ID
- fsg_F2012.4.2
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye34f9dc33c-aba6-4319-98d2-62ced806df5b
