The English miniature artist Ozias Humphry traveled in India from 1785 to 1787, confident that by painting portraits of British expatriates and wealthy Indian princes he would achieve fame and fortune. This venture abroad turned disastrous when many of Humphry’s clients refused to pay their bills, forcing the artist to return to England in financial straits.
In 1772, Humphry severely injured his eye during a riding accident, and by the end of the 1790s he was entirely blind.
This miniature depicts Dodda Vira Raja, ruler of Coorg (Kodagu), a rural district in the southwest Indian state of Karnataka, from 1780 to 1809.