The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Shvetambara Jain Teacher Giving Instruction

Shvetambara Jain Teacher Giving Instruction

c. 1750–60

possibly by Sahib Ram

(Indian, active 1745–1803)
Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Jaipur
gum tempera and gold on paper
Overall: 20 x 27.9 cm (7 7/8 x 11 in.)
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.171
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The monks seated next to the teacher place their whisk-brooms before them.

Description

A manuscript lies on a low table in front of the preacher, who holds one hand up in the gesture of discourse, and the other holds a cloth to shield his mouth from insects. The audience of laypeople includes men gathered near the front of the composition, and women in a group toward the back.

The preacher and the white-clad figures behind him are Jain householder monks, permitted to grow hair and moustaches and to wear a colored shawl that indicates higher status. Householder monks in Rajasthan often served as scribes and maintained manuscript libraries.
  • Ex collection: Kumar Sangram Singh
    2001
    Purchased from Christie’s, New York, March 21, 2001, lot 198
    2001–2018
    Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Ralph Benkaim Collection
    2018–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Singh, Kumar Sangram. Catalogue of Indian Miniature Paintings (Collection of Kumar Sangram Singh of Nawalgarh): Exhibited in the Rajasthan University Library, Jaipur, from 12th to 17th December, 1965. 1965.
    Pal, Pratapaditya, with contributions by Shridhar Andhare and others. The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1994. Reproduced: cat. no. 119B, fig. 32, p. 45 and 255.
    Pratap, Rita. The Panorama of Jaipur Paintings. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld, 1996. Reproduced: pl. XXXIV, mentioned: p. 83 and 88.
  • Text and Image in Southern Asia​ (Indian Painting and Himalayan rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26, 2022-March 5, 2023).
    The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994/95; Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum, 1995; New Orleans, New Orleans Museum of Art, 1995; London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1995/96.
  • {{cite web|title=Shvetambara Jain Teacher Giving Instruction|url=false|author=Sahib Ram|year=c. 1750–60|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.171