Nov 20: Canadian Exclusive Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts

 

This fall, the Art Gallery of Ontario opens its doors to the riches of India’s maharajas.  Organized in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts is the first exhibition to comprehensively explore the opulent world of the maharajas and their unique culture of artistic patronage.  The exhibition spans the beginning of the 18th century, to the end of British rule in 1947, and concludes with a look at the legacy of the maharajas today.

 

The exhibition features over 200 opulent objects, including paintings of spectacular royal processions, royal costumes and traditional dress, ceremonial weapons, including daggers, swords, and matchlock guns, elaborate jewellery commissioned from the French house of Cartier and prized photographs by artists such as Man Ray and Cecil Beaton. 

 

Key works in the show include the famed Patiala Necklace, Cartier’s largest ever commission, containing 2,930 diamonds and weighing almost a thousand carats; a life sized model elephant adorned with textiles and trappings and accompanied by a silver howdah from the early 19th century; the Silver Carriage of Bhavnagar from 1900; the Golden Throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh; and the Rolls Royce Phantom II – The Star of India – one of the world’s most fames Rolls Royce.

 

Admission to the exhibition is FREE to visitors 25 years old and younger.

Adult tickets are $22 and family passes are $66, which includes 4 adults. Access to the Gallery’s permanent collection included with admission.

For more information, including tickets please visit  http://www.ago.net/maharaja-exhibition

(Photo credit: Golden Throne of Ranjit Singh, c.1818 ©V&A Images)