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Lot Essay
The signature, amal-e Kesu (Work of Kesu) refers to Kesu Kalan (Kesu the Elder, whose name often appears Kesu or Kesu Das), one of the more prominent painters of Akbar's atelier. He could paint in the more standard Akbari mould, and in this style made contributions to the Victoria and Albert Museum Akbarnama (circa. 1590), but is perhaps best known for his usually highly coloured copies of European engravings. The resulting studies, in particular of the human anatomy represent a departure from the Persianate canon of aesthetics. Perhaps because of this he was also one of Jahangir's favourite early artists (Linda York Leach, Mughal and other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, London, 1995, p. 152).
Examples of his work after the European mode include a signed painting of St. Jerome (ca. 1580-85) in the Musée Guimet (Amina Okada, Imperial Mughal Painters, Paris, 1992, pl.100, p.97); two paintings from the story of Joseph, one, signed, in the Chester Beatty Library and the other, after a known European engraving, unsigned, in the St. Louis Art Museum (Okada, op. cit., pls.110, 111, the former also in Leach, op.cit., pl.1.233, p.136, and in Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600-1660, Williamstown, 1978, pl.10 recto, p.54); and a Crucifixion album leaf ascribed to him in the British Museum (J.M. Rogers, Mughal Miniatures, London, 1993, pl.44, p.68).
Subtle allusions to Western art can be detected in Kesu Das's portrayals of courtly life, as in this example, although they are often so skilfully integrated into the overall Mughal aesthetic that they are not immediately perceptible. Another miniature in which this concept is clear is 'The Birth of Price Salim' (published in Okada, op. cit., pl.103, p.99).
For another calligraphy by Muhammad Husayn al-Katib Kashmiri, as well as a short note on the calligrapher, please see lot 37 in the present sale.
Examples of his work after the European mode include a signed painting of St. Jerome (ca. 1580-85) in the Musée Guimet (Amina Okada, Imperial Mughal Painters, Paris, 1992, pl.100, p.97); two paintings from the story of Joseph, one, signed, in the Chester Beatty Library and the other, after a known European engraving, unsigned, in the St. Louis Art Museum (Okada, op. cit., pls.110, 111, the former also in Leach, op.cit., pl.1.233, p.136, and in Milo Cleveland Beach, The Grand Mogul: Imperial Painting in India 1600-1660, Williamstown, 1978, pl.10 recto, p.54); and a Crucifixion album leaf ascribed to him in the British Museum (J.M. Rogers, Mughal Miniatures, London, 1993, pl.44, p.68).
Subtle allusions to Western art can be detected in Kesu Das's portrayals of courtly life, as in this example, although they are often so skilfully integrated into the overall Mughal aesthetic that they are not immediately perceptible. Another miniature in which this concept is clear is 'The Birth of Price Salim' (published in Okada, op. cit., pl.103, p.99).
For another calligraphy by Muhammad Husayn al-Katib Kashmiri, as well as a short note on the calligrapher, please see lot 37 in the present sale.