Toronto, your Maharaja moment is almost up.
Patiala saab – everyone’s favourite royal mac daddy – is packing up his precious wares and leaving his residence of the past few months – the AGO.
If you haven’t managed to pop by his place for tea, then you really must visit. Where else can you find colossal carats and kaam-valla (embroidered) kurtas amongst Beaton and Man Ray masterpieces?
I walked through the exhibit again late last week, after attending the opening party back in the fall. I had forgotten the sublime hue of the Rolls, the perfect paisleys of my favourite necklace, the dull sheen of the silver thread in a true maharani’s sari.
I had forgotten art, and had gotten caught in the trap of everyday routine. And in a second or two, I was wrapped in lush velvet.
I was lost in the misty photograph of Indira Devi by Dorothy Wilding.
I was admiring the tailoring of the tails that Maharaja Yeshwant Rao of Indore wore in his Western dress painted portrait (he had another done in traditional garb but that portrait didn’t make it overseas as part of this show).
I was dreaming of sitting at that perfect Art Deco desk, listening to the jazz of another era. The era that created it.
I also attended a lecture that same evening, by one of the original curators of Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts, which was first shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum (a building I could linger in for hours) before coming to Toronto. Dr. Amin Jaffer, Director of Asian Art at Christie’s in London, had some fascinating tales of the maharajas and their luxury habits and I’ll share some of those stories in future posts – because, now of course, I need to know more…
In the meantime, get thee to the AGO before April 3rd, get lost in luscious luxury for an afternoon, and be dazzled…
…before it rolls back into the various vaults and vistas beyond.
Images: All photos marked with ** are by moi. Bhupinder Singh image courtesy of AGO; Rao portrait image detail courtesy of thedogster; Indira Devi image via The National Portrait Gallery, London; all others courtesy of the V&A Museum, London.
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