{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O236923"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O236923/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BE9871/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BE9871/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BE9871","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O236923/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O236923","accessionNumber":"IS.8-1973","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Raja Balwant Singh","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Painting, in opaque watercolour on paper, Raja Balwant Singh, with a <i>huqqa</i> and attendants, examining a horse. Balwant Singh is depicted wearing a dark green jama and green and crimson conical turban, sits on a gold throne with purple cushions, holding a <i>huqqa</i>. Behind him stand four attendants in dark yellow, dark green, mauve and slate-blue jamas holding respectively a peacock feather fan, a sword and a black shield. Two courtiers in pale yellow and white jams sit on a red rug with brown stripes, on a white terrace with balustrade containing rectangular compartments. Behind the party is a white wall with gold-coloured door. Below the terrace, a groom in white, ankle-length jama parades a chocolate-coloured stallion with black mane, tail and legs and orange saddle edged with green. Behind the horse stretches a large brownish-mauve courtyard, with streaks of green. In the distance is a long wall from which a small house projects, containing a verandah covered with a red rug, a grey wall, white cushions and a white blind, striped with crimson. On either side are two shuttered windows, to the right are two grooms conducting two horses, one grey, the other brown. \r\n\r\nIn this portrait, an atmosphere of courtly luxury is invoked, Balwant Singh being shown with calm dignity seated on a richly-decorated throne, the whole surroundings bespeaking the spacious comfort of a large and flourishing establishment. The throne with its two tiger heads is especially significant, since it vividly expresses his own sense of private grandeur. Despite the remains of a courtyard in the palace ruins at Saruin, the present building is more probably the large mansion which he may have owned in Jammu and where he would probably have lived while assisting his eldest brother, Raja Ranjit Dev, in the early years of the latter's return from exile. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Nainsukh","id":"A6542"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"opaque watercolour","id":"x35013"},{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted in opaque watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Animals and Wildlife","id":"THES250852"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Royalty","id":"THES48899"},{"text":"Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project","id":"THES263148"}],"styles":[{"text":"Jammu","id":"AAT19010"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006BE9871"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"007","id":"THES403758"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"painting","id":"AAT33618"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Jammu","id":"x38115"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1750","earliest":"1745-01-01","latest":"1754-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"292","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/06/2013","earliest":"2013-06-19","latest":"2013-06-19"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"386","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/06/2013","earliest":"2013-06-19","latest":"2013-06-19"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"352","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/06/2013","earliest":"2013-06-19","latest":"2013-06-19"},"part":"paper mount onto which object attached; also absolute maximum dimension of object","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"501","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/08/2013","earliest":"2013-08-19","latest":"2013-08-19"},"part":"paper mount onto which object attached; also absolute maximum dimension of object","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"245","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/06/2013","earliest":"2013-06-19","latest":"2013-06-19"},"part":"image within innermost painted borders","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"340","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/06/2013","earliest":"2013-06-19","latest":"2013-06-19"},"part":"paper mount onto which object attached; also absolute maximum dimension of object","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"19/06/2013 dimensions measured as part of Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project 2013","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'Mian Mukand Dev portrayed on a riding picnic. Amal is the singing-girl'","transliteration":"'miyan mukund de sher shikar karan phirde likh de amal kachni he'","type":"","note":"inscribed in Takri characters on top border; there is also an additional illegible inscription"}],"objectHistory":"From the collection of Dr W.B.Manley, Guildford. Formerly in the possession of Durgi Raina, Pacca Danga, Jammu.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting, Raja Balwant Singh, by Nainsukh, opaque watercolour on paper, Jammu, ca. 1750","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Skelton, Robert, et al, <i>The Indian Heritage. Court life and Arts under Mughal Rule</i> London: The Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982","id":"AUTH352798"},"details":"Topsfield, Andrew, cat. no. 164","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Topsfield, Andrew, An introduction to Indian Court Painting, H.M.S.O., London, 1984, 0112903835","id":"AUTH337273"},"details":"p. 38, cat. no. 31","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"Indian paintings from the Punjab Hills : a survey and history of Pahari miniature painting / by W. G. Archer ; foreword by Sherman E. Lee. London :Delhi: Sotheby Parke Bernet ;Oxford University Press, 1973 Number: 0856670022","id":"AUTH338527"},"details":"p. 200, cat. no. 34","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"Raja Balwant Singh, with a <i>huqqa</i> and attendants, examining a horse. ","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Balwant Singh","id":"N1510"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"ruler","id":"AAT25475"},{"text":"servants","id":"AAT25874"},{"text":"horse","id":"x34864"},{"text":"huqqa","id":"x47888"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.8-1973"],"accessionNumberNum":"8","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1973,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","verso"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-11","recordCreationDate":"2009-05-28","availableToBook":true}}