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The Rediff Special/Shyam Bhatia

An 18th century Rajasthani "miniature" from the Mewa school is one of the prize exhibits of the Asian Arts in London festival that opened in London recently.

"Miniature" however is a comparative word since this lovely work of art depicting the festival of 'Holi at Maharana Sangram Singh's court -- circa 1715-1720 -- would occupy a substantial niche on any collector's wall.

The immediate provenance of the painting is well known. It used to belong to the British Rail pension fund and now, pending its sale, it belongs to the Simon Ray gallery on King Street in London, a stone's throw from Piccadilly.

Simon Ray's is one of the dozens of galleries sponsoring or participating in this annual event that includes a full programme of events, including evening receptions, lectures, concerts, museum exhibitions, and conferences that attract collectors and scholars from all over the world.

Ray himself is more than an expert. Until a few years ago he was head of the Islamic department for Spink, the well-known London dealer. When Spink sold out and decided to concentrate only on core activities such as coins, stamps, and models, Ray was asked if he would like to buy out the department that he used to head.

The rest, as they say, is history. Now, assisted by his able, Singapore-born colleague and cataloguer, Dr Leng Tan, Ray has collected some of South Asia's most enchanting works of art from the 17th century onwards. They include paintings, engraved panels and sculptures that are rarely seen.

Some items in his catalogue, like the 17th century Mughal turban holders, were sold within hours of being put on display. Another sought after item is the 19th century erotic foot scratcher that also comes from Rajasthan.

"The foot was considered an erotic zone of pleasure and luxury and Indian poetry and literature is full of references to the caress of feet," says Ray.

He also has an amazing collection of other items guaranteed to please the eye and the senses.

Among them is the rectangular white marble engraved and inlaid to the front with different coloured hard and semi-precious stones of the type that can still be seen on the walls of the Taj Mahal.

The inlaying technique -- pietra dura -- is attributed to Italian craftsmen who were known to travel between their own homeland and the Mughal court. Experts differ on whether they taught the inlaying technique to Indians or whether it was vice versa.

Ray refuses to speculate on how much his white marble panel might fetch, but other gallery owners have speculated it could fetch upwards of US $25,000 on the open market. The Mewa miniature also on display in the same shop has been estimated at twice as much.

Asked to explain the focus of the painting, Dr Leng explains that the man in focus is Maharana Sangram Singh who is picked out twice in the painting, once seated and once standing, with a gold nimbus or halo around his head.

When seated he is with his nobles in the garden, which has a fountain, water mazes, and a red canopy. Red powder is being thrown with dishes set in front of the Maharana. In the foreground is his son Jagat Singh and in the background are 'jethi' wrestlers battling each other with tiger claw weapons.

"The reason you see the Maharana twice is that it allows the painter to depict various things that happened in the course of one day, such as a wrestling match or an elephant fight," says Leng.

"We call this the concept of continuous narrative and it is unique to the Rajasthani tradition. It is actually an old Indian painting technique that goes back to the pre-16th century period. Of course the Mewa painting shows a definite Mughal influence. The rulers of Rajasthan may have resisted the Mughals politically, but they certainly absorbed some of their ideas of painting and architecture."

Image: Rahil Shaikh

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