BIKANER. A fine portrait of H. H. Maharaja Sir Ganga Singh with his son and heir Sadul Singh

BIKANER. A large, 12½ x 7½ ins, Royal size portrait card by Herzog & Higgins, Mhow, Central India showing H. H. Maharaja Sir Ganga Singh of Bikaner holding his first born son, Yuvaraja Sadul Singh. The portrait dates from 1903 as Sadul Singh was born in September 1902 to the Maharaja and his wife, a Princess of Pratapgarh. He was eventually to succeed as the last ruling Maharaja of Bikaner in 1943 and died in 1950. The photograph has an old repair across the top right corner but this is well away from the portrsit itself. the Maharaja wears a European style tweed hacking jacket with jodhpurs and a turban and looks affectionately at his son in his arms. The photograph is reproduced in Naveen Patnaik A Desert Kingdom, the Rajpiuts of Bikaner [George Weidenfeld and Nicholson Ltd, London 1990] page 24. The silver edged card shows the company’s appointment to the Viceroy, the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine although when this example was used he had been succeeded by Lord Curzon.    feb15/3