In this vibrant reinterpretation of a Mughal portrait convention, Maharaja Kirpal Pal (r. c.1678-1693) sits smoking his hookah on white floor-spread laid over a striped durree. His attendants are shown in smaller scale. Kirpal Pal was a successful warrior and a generous patron of art and learning. The jewelled pendant at his chest may be an heirloom, given by Shah Jahan to his forebear Bhupat Pal, depicted in the previous painting [LI118.38].
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2nd February-22nd April 2012, Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin, Andrew Topsfield, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2012), no. 61 on p. 146, pp. 18, 148, & 150, illus. p. 147
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