Maharaja Sovan Singh playing pachisi

Ambav

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Maharaja of Mewar, Rajasthan, Sovan Singh, is seen playing pachisi (modern parcheesi), a traditional cross and circle game known since the medieval period in India, with his courtier Chundawat Sarup Singh. Together they are seated in a white marble pavilion against a brilliant yellow background. The artist is named in the inscription on the reverse as Ambav, a follower (and likely a pupil) of the renowned Mewar court painter Tara. Together they represented the last generation of court painters in Rajasthan, who were soon to be displaced by a new technology, the glass-plate negative camera and the albumen print.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art