OUT OF PRINT

Edited by Stuart Cary Welch, with essays by Stuart Cary Welch, Joachim K. Bautze, Craigen W. Bowen with Amy Snodgrass, Norbert Peabody, and Woodman Taylor

223 pages, 9 5/8 x 11 7/8", 141 illustrations, 115 in color. 1997

ISBN 0-87848-084-6 (paper), $45. Wholesale cloth distribution by Prestel

Richly detailed hunt scenes, intimate devotional pictures, depictions of courtly events, and illustrations from traditional literary and religious texts comprise the distinctive body of 17th- to 19th-century paintings and drawings from the small but artistically rich Hindu kingdom of Kotah in Rajasthan. This fully illustrated catalogue accompanied one of the few comprehensive exhibitions devoted to artworks from a single Indian court, with many of the pieces being shown outside of India for the first time. These paintings and drawings document the dynamic and complex interactions between Kotah and other Rajput and Muslim courts. Painters and works of art often moved from one court to the next, depending largely on the political fortunes or enthusiasm of their royal patrons, who thus contributed to an ongoing synthesis of artistic techniques and ideas. In this catalogue, works attributed to Sheikh Taju and other great Kotah artists provide substantial evidence of the social crosscurrents of their times.

In addition to the catalogue entries, the book presents five essays that look at the religious, historical, and political contexts of the works; examine the roles of Kotah rulers as patrons; and provide descriptions of materials and tech-niques used by the artists. Copublished with the Asia Society Galleries.

See press release
See exhibition information