Mughal Prince Playing Polo

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This equestrian portrait depicts a Mughal prince playing polo on a lush green ground, occasionally strewn with flowering plants. Polo, a game played from horse-back with a large ball and mallets, was not merely a pastime highly popular with the royalty in medieval times, but also a symbol of status, a venue of dialogue between both, friends and foes, for conspiracies or conciliation, and a mode of training the princes in horse riding. Royal personages of these times, both male and female, loved to be painted on horse-back playing polo. The prince here is shown riding a horse, a mallet in hand and a huge red ball rolling on the ground.

The composition is dominated by his Mughal features. The style of both his hair and moustaches, and to some extent his face, show influence of the earlier stages of the Jehangir era of Mughal painting. The green halo further defines his regal status. His costume too, including his turban and crown are typically Mughal. He is riding a majestic horse, the legs of which are painted in Raghogarh style and is richly saddled in the Rajput manner. This portrait is thus an interesting blend of Rajput and Mughal traditions.

The statue of a deer used as kathi or the riding seat (richly ornamented with floral motifs), with which the horse has been saddled, is a rare element in Mughal painting.

The artist has employed fine line-work, and a technique of embossing whereby actual jewels consisting of semi-precious stones have been stuck on the surface of the painting using a strong adhesive, recreating the aura of Royal Mughal splendor.