A LEAF FROM THE POLIER ALBUM: A PERSIAN PRINCE AND HIS ATTENDANT
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A LEAF FROM THE POLIER ALBUM: A PERSIAN PRINCE AND HIS ATTENDANT

AWADH, CIRCA 1730

Details
A LEAF FROM THE POLIER ALBUM: A PERSIAN PRINCE AND HIS ATTENDANT
AWADH, CIRCA 1730
Gouache heightened with gold on paper, the prince in a lilac and gold tunic sitting against bolster on a white carpet, with attendant in blue tunic and red coat holding sword and hankerchief, with background of green hills, on album page with purple floral sprays and blue borders with gold vine, mounted on backing card, framed and glazed
Folio 15½ x 11 1/3in. (39.5 x 28.5cm.); miniature 5¼ x 3¾in. (13.5 x 9.5cm.)
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Lot Essay

The distinctive mount with a broad band of naturalistic flowers between two narrow borders with stylized floral motifs, and particularly the colouring, indicate that this comes from the Polier Album. A number of paintings from this album are in the Museum für Islamische Kunst, (J. Losty: After the Great Mughals, Mumbai, 2002, pp.43 and 46).

Antoine Louis Henri Polier, born in Lausanne 1741, entered the service of the British East India Company in 1757. By account of his Swiss nationality, he was never promoted beyond the rank of Captain. He resigned in 1776, and with the help of Hastings entered the service of the Nawabs of Oudh, Shuja and Asaf ud-daula as architect and engineer. He later served the Mughal Emperor at Delhi in a military command. He was later appointed Lieutenant Colonel by Hastings, with permission to reside in Lucknow (C. E. Buckland: Dictionary of Indian Biography, New York, 1906, p.339).

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