PhotosVideosAllPeople
Painted in Baroda in 1880, this portrait belongs to a transitional moment in Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma’s career. It reflects his early style, influenced by traditions of Indian court portraiture and Tanjore painting, with a relatively flattened figure, controlled pose, rich surface ornament, and emphasis on jewelry and gold rather than the dramatic modeling of light and emotion that would characterize his later portraits. A young Princess Tarabai Gaekwad of Baroda (daughter of Maharaja Khanderao Gaekwad and Maharani Jamnabai) sits composed and upright against a blue background, her body angled away while her face turns toward us. She wears a grayish-blue sari with a pale gold shawl draped over her shoulders. Elaborate earrings, layered bracelets, rings, a forehead ornament, and a prominent jeweled nose ring connected across her cheek frames her face and arms. Her black hair is center-parted and pulled back smoothly. One hand rests on a circular wooden table holding a white cloth as the other rests in her lap holding a small bouquet. Gold tassels hang form a curtain at the upper left, while a vase of flowers sits on the table. Rather than emphasizing Tarabai’s personality through movement or overt emotion, Ravi Varma presents her through signs of rank, dress, jewelry, and ceremonial composure. In 19th-century Indian royal portraiture, textiles, ornaments, and modes of presentation communicated region, family, wealth, and social status. Her father died shortly before her birth, but Tarabai was born into Baroda’s ruling Gaekwad dynasty and therefore held the rank of princess. Her mother later adopted Gopalrao Gaekwad, who ascended the throne as Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, making Tarabai his adoptive sister within the royal household. In 1879, Tarabai married Raja Raghunath Savant Bhonsle of Sawantwadi, joining another princely family.