Rana Amar Singh II (reigned 1698–1710) smoking a hookah (c. 1700): Art, History and Details

Rana Amar Singh II (reigned 1698–1710) smoking a hookah (c. 1700) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The ruler of the Hindu kingdom in southern Rajasthan is depicted in the manner of a Mughal portrait. His muslin tunic is belted with a sash that has flowering plants embroidered on the border, which was popularized at the court of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Other Mughal characteristics include the color of the background and the flowering plants along the lower border. Sandalwood paste explains the dark areas around his chest and arms.

Object facts

• Title: Rana Amar Singh II (reigned 1698–1710) smoking a hookah
• Date: c. 1700
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 23.8 x 20.3 cm (9 3/8 x 8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1991.170

A detail from the museum

The green pigment called verdigris has caused acid deterioration of the paper.

Collection credit

Seventy-fifth anniversary gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski

Further reading listed by the museum

• Czuma, Stanislaw J. Indian Art from the George P. Bickford Collection: Catalog. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1975.
• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79.

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.