A portrait of Maharani Jind Kaur, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Last Queen, mother of Duleep Singh by...

A portrait of Maharani Jind Kaur, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Last Queen, mother of Duleep Singh by Hugo Vilfred Pedersen (Danish, 1870-1959), circa 1905, oil on canvas, signed lower right, original frame with artists label, painting 33.5 x 24cm.; framed 45.5 x 36.5cm.

Provenance: Private Collection Copenhagen

Maharani Jind Kaur, (b.1817 in Chachar, Gujranwala, Sikh Empire d. 1 August 1863 in London, United Kingdom) also popularly known as Rani Jindan. She was the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the mother of the last Sikh Emperor, Maharajah Duleep Singh. In 1845 she became Regent of Punjab for Duleep Singh. The Queen Mother (or Mai) of the last Sikh sovereign of the Punjab. She was renowned for her great beauty and personal charm.

Hugo Vilfred-Pedersen studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen between 1886-1892, and later studied under Henningsen at the School of Modeling. He painted portraits, landscapes, figures and interiors in oils and watercolours.Pedersen was a world traveller, having journeyed around the globe seven times. He spent many years in Asia visiting China, India, Indonesia, Sumatra, and Japan, where he painted landscapes and people including the Viceroy, Lord Curzon. Pedersen lived in India for a dozen years, and here he produced some of his finest works, that established his reputation as one of the leading painters in the British Indian colonies. He exhibited internationally, including the United States, sketching ordinary people as well as sultans and court life. In 1904, Pedersen published the book "Journey Through Dutch East-India", which is lavishly illustrated with eight colour plates and a deluxe sketch-journal that the artist made during a five year journey through the Dutch East-Indies, Singapore and Malaysia.

For a similar depiction see Paul Michael Taylor and Sonia Dhami, Sikh Art from the Kapany Collection, 2017, p. 198