Title: Maharani Jindan
Classification: Oil painting
Artist(s): Unknown (Probably George Richmond 1809–1896)
Date: Unknown
Dimensions: H. 80 in. x W. 44 in.
Museum number: S.M.92 (N.M.1961.372)
Physical location: Section 5: Rani Jindan's Haveli
Collection: Princess Bamba Collection
Bibliographic Reference(s):
F. A. Khan, The Princess Bamba Collection Catalogue: Antiquities of Sikh Period (Lahore: Department of Archaeology, 1961), plate V (cat. no. 3).
F. S. Aijazuddin, Sikh Portraits by European Artists (Karachi: OUP, 1979), plate V.
Peter Bance, “The Maharajah and His Faith,” Sikh Art from the Kapany Collection, eds. Paul Michael Taylor and Sonia Dhami (California: Sikh Foundation, 2017), fig. 9.14.
Maharani Jindan (d. 1863), the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the mother of Maharaja Duleep Singh is seated on a floor cushion placed on a round low wooden platform. The central part of the cushion appears to be of red cloth with gold overtones while its dark green velvet borders are embellished with a gold edging. The Rani is reclining against a bolster made of the same material. Other than the edges of the cushion and the side of the bolster, the rest of the painting, including the figure and the background are unfinished. These areas only carry a thin coat of oil colour meant as a filler.
There is no information regarding the artist or the date of this painting in the museum records or in The Princess Bamba Collection Catalogue. However, a portrait of Maharani Jindan by the Victorian painter George Richmond in the Kapany Collection dated c. 1863,[1] is closely comparable to the one in the Lahore Museum although it only shows a closeup of the Maharani’s torso.
[1]Peter Bance, “The Maharajah and His Faith,” Sikh Art from the Kapany Collection, eds. Paul Michael Taylor and Sonia Dhami (California: Sikh Foundation, 2017), fig. 9.14.
