A large pastel painting of Maharaja Duleep Singh after Winterhalter, part of a suite of panels painted in 1988 by Theirry Bruet for Mme Régine’s Restaurant ‘Le Doyen’ in Paris

A large pastel painting of Maharaja Duleep Singh after Winterhalter, part of a suite of panels painted in 1988 by Theirry Bruet for Mme Régine’s Restaurant ‘Le Doyen’ in Paris, of tall rectangular form with the imposing and elegant Maharaja staring directly out of the image, standing with his right foot forward beside a tiger on a rug, his right hand resting on his bejewelled sword and his left gripping the sash at his waist, dressed in sumptuous silks and an ornate turban surmounted by a white plume and pearl and emerald sarpech which matches his seven strand pearl and emerald choker, signed and dated ‘Bruet 88’.  English.

Footnotes: Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire, lived much of his life in exile in England, spending time in Suffolk in Elveden Hall, later the seat of the Guinness family.

Régina Zylberberg was a socialite and singer, known professionally as Régine, who relaunched the restaurant ‘Le Doyen’, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, transforming it into one of the most famous of all Parisian restaurants, awarded three Michelin stars. In the 1980s, however, it was also the centre of a particular social scene in the city, drawing celebrities who were part of Régine’s circle. Credited with the invention of the modern disco, Régine became a nightclub and restaurant mogul and launched a series of successful hospitality ventures around the world in parallel with her singing career.

Thierry Bruet, born in 1949, is a highly successful French artist who has exhibited widely around the world and is currently putting together a retrospective of his work. He has worked in multiple media as a painter and sculptor and, as well as many pieces in private collections, his work adorns such iconic hotels as the George V in Paris and some of the Sofitel Hotels in London and New York. We are very grateful to M. Bruet for confirming that this piece was indeed painted by him in 1988 and furnishing us with details of the commission.