The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States.
Location History:
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the painting was acquired through a purchase from the Friends of Islamic Art Gifts in 2009 and is now part of the museum's collection.
Nawab Muzaffar 'Ali Khan on Horseback is a portrait that was made around 1730 and is believed to have been created by Rai Kalyan Das, who is also called Chitarman II. The painting shows Nawab Muzaffar 'Ali Khan sitting on a horse in an well-controlled picture arrangement. Nawab Muzaffar 'Ali Khan was the leader of Ajmer under the emperor Muhammad Shah and died in 1739 during the Battle of Karnal. The way he is shown in this painting shows the tradition of the Mughal people to show important people and leaders through carefully made paintings of them on horseback.
The horse and the person riding it are the parts of the painting. The person on the horse is shown with care in terms of what he's wearing how he is standing and what he is carrying. The horse is also shown with lots of decoration. The use of gold makes some parts of the painting look better and gives the picture a fancy look that is linked to the rich Mughal paintings. Thin lines made with ink help to show the person and other details while the colors that are not transparent give weight to the shapes.
This painting is important because of Chitarman IIs role in the Mughal court. The Metropolitan Museum says that Chitarman II helped bring interest in Mughal court paintings during the time of Muhammad Shah even though the main place for making paintings was smaller than in the earlier times. He became very linked to making pictures of people and paintings of figures.
This painting is an example of how important it was to make pictures of people in Mughal art during the 1700s. Of showing a big event, in the court it focuses on one important person and shows his rank and position through the way he is sitting on the horse the clothes he is wearing and the carefully made surroundings.
The artwork portrays the nawab as a mighty man as was common place during this era of commissioned pieces by Mughal royalty and their vassals. He is portrayed to be on horse back in a traditional ornamental outfit with a numbered 3 attendants at his side, two on front of the artwork and 1 behind the horse. This spread of depth showcases the great artistic skill shown by Rai Kalyan Das in his works. The painting also emphasizes the margin of the piece with it being blue and also the head dressing of the Nawab heavily with the color usage given importance in these specific places to make them pop.
All in all, this item is a perfect picture of the common artwork one could find during the 1700s of any Mughal ruler with enough power.
