The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Maharaja Scindia, Nobles, and High Officials, Gwalior

Maharaja Scindia, Nobles, and High Officials, Gwalior

1887
(Indian, 1844–1905)
Image: 19 x 27.4 cm (7 1/2 x 10 13/16 in.); Paper: 19 x 27.4 cm (7 1/2 x 10 13/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

Capturing such a massive group in a single shot was challenging. Deen Dayal’s use of a wide-angle lens, betrayed by the curved distortion of the building’s facade, was rare for him at the time. The young Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior is just right of the composition’s center. The distinctive angled turbans identify Gwalior’s historical allegiance to the Marathas, a Hindu empire that controlled areas of western, central, and southern India from 1674 to 1818. Gwalior had a British liaison starting in 1782 and came under British control in the 1840s. The British officers at the left may have been visiting dignitaries, a common occasion for commissioning a formal group portrait.
  • 1887 or 1888
    Studio of Raja Deen Dayal, sold to commissioner (identity unknown)
    1970s–2015
    Walter Clode [1929–2022], Pershore, England, sold or consigned to Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, England
    2015–16
    (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, England), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 5, 2016–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Raja Deen Dayal: The King of Indian Photographers. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 23, 2023-February 4, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=Maharaja Scindia, Nobles, and High Officials, Gwalior|url=false|author=Raja Deen Dayal|year=1887|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2016.266.16