A Raja and His Courtiers in Procession Outside a Walled City

Hyderabad Court Deccani school A prince mounted on an ornately decorated elephant, preceded by a younger relative seated upon a horse, advances with a party of 108 courtiers, servants and soldiers. The drummers and musicians announcing his advance, the cavalry and cannon he commands, and the golden elephant howdah are all indications of his status. The pet cheetah borne on an ox cart in the painting's center foreground is, in all likelihood, a gift for the enthroned ruler watching the procession from a marble pavilion at the walled city's perimeter. From 1940s Private collector, purchased in Delhi in the 1940s [1] To 2000 Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd., New York City, to 2000 From 2000 Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Terence McInerney Fine Arts Ltd. in 2000 Notes: [1] The object was purchased in Delhi by a private collector in the early 1940s and brought to England in the subsequent decade (according to Curatorial Note 2, Debra Diamond, September 28, 2000, in the object record). Freer Gallery of Art Collection Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016) Terence McInerney Fine Arts, Ltd.