His Highness the Maharaja of Rewa (1886): Art, History and Details

His Highness the Maharaja of Rewa (1886) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Deen Dayal’s status as an Indian person may have helped him gain access to Indian rulers at the start of his career. The year before he received the patronage of British officials, Deen Dayal photographed ten-year-old Venkat Raman Singh (1876–1918; reigned 1880–1918), the Maharaja of Rewa. The studio portrait reveals the boy beneath the crown. He straddles a Western-style chair that is too tall for him, curling under his stockinged feet so they touch the floor. One of his many necklaces holds a painted or photographic portrait similar to the portrait jewel pendant in the nearby case.

Object facts

• Title: His Highness the Maharaja of Rewa
• Date: 1886
• Creator attribution: Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905)
• Culture: India
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: albumen print
• Dimensions: Image: 20 x 27.2 cm (7 7/8 x 10 11/16 in.); Paper: 20 x 27.2 cm (7 7/8 x 10 11/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - Misc. 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2016.266.18

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.