Maharani Vijaya Raje Scindia of Gwalior, née Lekha Divyeshwari Devi Hamilton Studios, c. 1940s Courtesy MAP / Tasveer
A photography book on royal women highlights the history of portraiture and gender politics in India.
A book on women and that too royal women in all their finery would most likely be perceived as glamorous. “Maharanis: Women of Royal India”, a lavish book on the historical representation of royal women in India faces that prospect. But delve deeper into the volume and you can see that its 134 images and four essays unfold the history of photography as well as gender politics. Published by Tasveer in collaboration with Mapin, the book will be launched along with an exhibition on December 6 at Sanskriti Museums. “It is unique and probably the first one in photography on royal women. Right from the first known photograph of an Indian royal lady to Gayatri Devi, it is a massive collection,” says Abhishek Poddar, co-founder, Tasveer Art Gallery.
The earliest picture in the book is the photograph of Princess Victoria Gowramma of Coorg, believed to be the first known photograph of an Indian princess taken in 1854 by Roger Fenton. The photo belongs to the famed Royal Collection Trust. “Indian maharaja was the peacock. Maharanis pale in comparison with the maharajas. Firstly, access to these royal ladies was not easy and only those who started travelling outside got photographed. As a result not much material exists. So a lot of these are hitherto never-seen photos,” adds Abhishek.
The four essays by Amin Jaffer, Martand Singh, Pramod K.G., Shilpa Vijayakrishnan range from academic to anecdotal gauging royal portraiture, experiences, gender history etc.
Abhishek says that images portray their place in history. “You get a glimpse of whether or not they played a role in politics. You see them hunting. One photograph has Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, seated next to Indira Gandhi at coronation of Palen Thondup Namgyal,” says the art aficionado. The book documents many foreigners who married Indian royals. “It also charts the journey of portraiture from being Victorian portraits to glamorous representations and photography studios like Raja Deen Dayal, Hamilton, Kinsey, Bourne & Shepherd, Kinsey etc,” says Nathaniel Gaskell, Director of Tasveer Art Gallery.
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