painting;
album(detached folio)
- Museum number
- 1937,0410,0.3
- Description
-
A stout courtier. Single-page painting on a detached album folio. Portrait.
Ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper.
- Production date
- 1610-1620 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 17 centimetres
-
Width: 10 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- A well-dressed member of the court in Bijapur stands in isolation, with his face in profile. The dark brown backdrop suggests no particular landscape, but the pair of orange birds overhead and the few leaves underfoot show that the setting is outdoors. The skirts of the courtier's robe flare out, as though caught in a light breeze, and the man seems lost in contemplation. The olive yellow shawl and golden belt and turban band make a subtle combination of colours against the dark brown background. Naturalistic details, such as the man's black beard going grey at the chin, suggest that the artist intended to create a close portrait.
Painting at the court of Bijapur was subject to the outside influences of Persian, Mughal and Christian art, as well as to the local artistic traditions of southern India. Foreign artists could find employment at the court atelier and the import of European prints, while Mughal and Persian paintings provided examples of different artistic approaches and subjects to resident painters. This portrait, for example, copies a contemporary trend in Mughal painting for individual portraits of courtiers. The imaginative fusion of these diverse elements produced a gentle decorative Deccani style that was in itself distinct from naturalism of neighbouring Mughal painting.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1937
- Acquisition notes
- ‘Valuable printed books, autograph letters and historical documents, Persian and Indian manuscripts and miniatures’, Sotheby’s, March 15-17th, 1937; lot. 605 (?)
- Department
- Middle East
- Registration number
- 1937,0410,0.3
