Posted on: 16 July 2012

Paintings; Gouache, A Rajput warrior and his wife, Tanjore, ca. 1780 - ca. 1790

Copyright: © V&A Images


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this is such a truly wonderful treasure chest of all that is ancient.. thank you so much..

ye painting kis light me banaayi hai jo parchaai aise hai

The figures are from the artist's imagination.No Rajput would ever hold the sword like that least of all a warrior. Only historical personage who is painted all across holding the sword in this way is Veer Tejaji, who is a patron saint of most villages in Rajasthan and was from the Jat community. For very long the Tejaji shrines were the places people rushed to in case of a snake bite . Nowadays with snake bites less frequent an occurence and with allopathic anti-venom available treadily the shrines of Tejajai are frequented for skin allergies and erruptions. For those that have a belief Veer Tejaji does offer succour from afflictions of the skin.Even the beads around the neck of the warrior are downright sillily painted. The attire of the lady also takes a great deal of liberty from the truth of prevailing times. This was the 18th century when purdah was the norm and such revealing clothing was an impossibility.

The painting has been done in the Tanjore style as also mentioned in the blurb. Tanjore style of painting is not marked for its anatomical/historical accuracy but for its own distinct aesthetics where certain features are highlighted and also considerable ornamentation.