Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II of Jaipur

Sawai Madho Singh II (1862-1922) was the adoptive son of Ram Singh II, Maharaja of Jaipur. On 30 September 1880, at the age of twenty, he ascended the throne of Jaipur. This is a hand-painted photograph of the Maharaja photographed by Gobindram and Oodeyram, preeminent photographers in Jaipur in the 1880s.

The late 19th century saw a rise in the use of photography, but Indian nobility wanted to take the art form a step further. They requested that their portraits be hand-coloured, frequently in vivid hues, giving rise to early hand-painted coloured photographs.

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