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Lot Essay
A note in the lower margin, presumably intended for the binder, translates 'Facing the [painting] of the woman holding a baby in her arm'.
Basawan's skill and independence in copying European engravings and his lifting of Christian iconography as demonstrated in the present example is also clear in two drawings published in Imperial Mughal Painters (Amina Okada, Imperial Mughal Painters, Paris, 1992, nos. 89 and 90, p. 89). Indeed these examples bear great similarity to our drawing, no. 89 in the treatment of the young woman's cloak, which rises above her and no. 90 in the pose struck by the woman and the instrument held in the left hand. Whilst not remaining scrupulously faithful to the iconographic and thematic conventions of European engravings, for example she holds in her left hand not the traditional spear but rather a Persian instrument, several elements are directly lifted from the prototypes. For instance, Minerva does stand in front of a pile of books, the symbol of learning, often associated with the deity.
Basawan worked in a technique called nim qalam designed to imitate the European engravings and in fact grisaille painting, by using black ink and an extremely fine brush.
Basawan's skill and independence in copying European engravings and his lifting of Christian iconography as demonstrated in the present example is also clear in two drawings published in Imperial Mughal Painters (Amina Okada, Imperial Mughal Painters, Paris, 1992, nos. 89 and 90, p. 89). Indeed these examples bear great similarity to our drawing, no. 89 in the treatment of the young woman's cloak, which rises above her and no. 90 in the pose struck by the woman and the instrument held in the left hand. Whilst not remaining scrupulously faithful to the iconographic and thematic conventions of European engravings, for example she holds in her left hand not the traditional spear but rather a Persian instrument, several elements are directly lifted from the prototypes. For instance, Minerva does stand in front of a pile of books, the symbol of learning, often associated with the deity.
Basawan worked in a technique called nim qalam designed to imitate the European engravings and in fact grisaille painting, by using black ink and an extremely fine brush.