Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Horse with a One-Eyed Groom

The painting depicts the horse of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (r. 1801-1839), the first maharaja of the Sikhs of the Punjab. The caparisoned horse is white, gray, and dappled. A groomsman stands in front of the horse, holding onto the blue reins with both hands. He wears a long, white tunic and an orange turban and waist sash. He has a small mustache and appears to be missing his left eye. Ranjit Singh himself was also blind in his left eye since childhood as a result of smallpox. This work was executed on paper made in England and bearing a watermark of 1839, the year of Ranjit Singh’s death.