Raja Balwant Singh Holding a Narcissus

In the second quarter of the eighteenth century a sea change occurred in painting from
the Punjab Hills, a profound stylistic shift that witnessed the demise of the Early Pahari Style, a
style characterized by warm colors; abbreviated forms (both in shape and number); and
shallow, attenuated space confined to the foreground (cat. nos. 36­63) and the simultaneous
birth of the Later Pahari Style, a style that was much more naturalistic, more in tune with Mughal
painting, and with court painting in the rest of India (cat. nos. 69­94) This Later Pahari Style
was characterized by cool colors and fine drawing; rounded, three­ dimensional forms; and
deep, continuous space , featuring a foreground, a middle ground, and a background, often
unfolding within a landscape setting. The locus classicus for the Early Pahari Style was the
small, yet important, kingdom of Basohli. That for the Later Pahari Style was the much larger
and more important kingdom of Kangra, about 100 miles to the southeast of Basohli.
B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer trace this profound change to the influence of the
artist Pandit Seu (ca. 1680 ­ ca. 1740), a shadowy figure, to say the least. We prefer to trace
this development to the influence of Pandit Seu’s son, the great Pahari painter Nainsukh (ca.
1710­78). Nainsukh was the certain painter of the present portrait of Balwant Singh (1724­63),
the artist’s inspired patron.
Balwant Singh was never the ruler of a particular kingdom, but only the princely relation
of the raja of Jammu, or the raja of neighboring Jasrota, a modest state closely allied to
Jammu. Balwant Singh might have been politically insignificant. Yet as a patron of painting
(and probably of music and dance as well), he was truly great. During the middle years of
Nainsukh’s career this artist worked for him almost exclusively, producing more than 50
drawings, tinted drawings, and fully colored paintings of Balwant Singh in both formal and
decidedly informal situations. (1) These works have a surface brilliance, a human intimacy and
a psychological complexity that are indisputably rare; they are certainly one of the major
highpoints of Indian art.
W.G. Archer, Karl Khandalavala, and B.N. Goswamy have argued endlessly about the
identification and lineage of Balwant Singh. Archer and Khandalavala believe he was a prince
of the kingdom of Jammu, while Goswamy believes he was a prince of the kingdom of
neighboring Jasrota. (2) As Balwant Singh’s birth year and death year were inscribed on
paintings that were indisputably made for him, his life dates are not in question.
In this fine work, Balwant Singh is depicted in a half­length portrait within a Mughal-
format, oval frame. The Prince holds a narcissus flower of the “paperwhite” type, with multiple
flower heads (denoting his cultural refinement), and the tail end of a huqqah pipe. He is resting
against a bolster and wears a fancy turban decorated with a fine, jewelled sarpech (turban
ornament) and a curling feather­plum. He wears a padded, Mughal­style coat (jama), tied on
the left in the non­Muslim way; and a flower garland around his neck. He has a trimmed beard
and displays an alert, intelligent expression.
A closely related brush drawing heightened with white of approximately the same
date also depicts Balwant Singh in half­length within an oval frame, yet in mirror reverse. This
drawing was formerly in the collection of W.G. Archer. It is now on permanent loan to the
Museum Rietberg, Zurich. (3)
(1) For discussion of the life and career of this great artist, see B.N. Goswamy,
Nainsukh of Guler (Zurich: Artibus Asiae Publishers, 1997).
(2) Ibid, pp. 259­84
(3) Ibid, no. 34

Sam Fogg

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Divine Pleasures: Painting from India's Rajput Courts—The Kronos Collections," June 13–September 11, 2016.