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Lot Essay
The Album:
It is believed that the Indian paintings from the album now known as the St. Petersburg Muraqqa' were taken to Iran by Nadir Shah following his sack of Delhi in 1739. Whilst there, the folios were all given new borders and almost all backed by panels of calligraphy by the master calligrapher Mir 'Imad. The album was obtained in 1909 by the Russian Aulic Councillor Ostrogradsky from Jews in Tehran who had in turn purchased it from the Royal Library after which it was presented to the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg (Francesca von Habsburg et al., The St. Petersburg Muraqqa', Lugano, 1996, p.20). At that stage the manuscript contained exactly 100 leaves. In 1912 the Metropolitan Museum purchased one leaf which appears to be the earliest provenance on any of the leaves outside Russia. In 1931 six of the best folios of all were sold to the Freer Gallery.
The Painting:
Of the paintings known from the album, most were produced between the early 16th and the end of the 17th centuries, although there are a few works from half a century either side of this period. Most are Mughal - including a few that were intended for the Jahangirnama and the Padshahnama, although there are two early 17th century Deccani works and twenty Persian paintings, mostly of the late 17th century. Half of the paintings postdate Shah Jahan's rule (1628-58) (Elaine Wright, Muraqqa. Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Virginia, 2008, p.575). Ours is likely to have been one of those.
In its basic conceit, our miniature relates closely to one entitled "A Late Mughal Outing", formerly in the album and now in the collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (Anthony Welch and Stuart Cary Welch, Arts of the Islamic Book. The Collection of Sadruddin Aga Khan, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1982, no.78, pp.231-33). That miniature also depicts a group of ladies bathing on the banks of a river, although unlike ours, there they go unwatched. That miniature is attributed to around 1680, and is inscribed Mahmud (though in a lower left hand corner, where the painting has been extended). It is believed that the folios in the album were organized such that each double page had either two calligraphic panels, or two paintings which were similar in composition or subject matter. Both our painting, and "A Late Mughal Outing" share similar borders by Muhammad Baqir. It is tempting to suggest therefore that they originally they faced each other.
The Borders:
Three artists were known to work on the decoration and composition of the album in the mid-18th century - Muhammad Hadi, Muhammad Baqir and Muhammad Sadiq. Most of the work of decorating the album was done by Muhammad Hadi, the artist who signed the gold illuminated margins of the mashq on our folio, which is dated AH 1171/1757-58 AD. In his discussion on the compilation and decoration of the album, Anatol Ivanov writes that Hadi only decorated the margins around the calligraphic specimens (Francesca von Habsburg, et al., op.cit. Lugano, 1996, p.26).
Although little is known of the life and work of Muhammad Hadi, research done by B.W. Robinson confirms that he was seen in Shiraz on the 10th September 1821 by the English traveller Claudius Rich who described him as a very old man who no longer practiced his art (B.W. Robinson, Persian Miniatures from Collections in the British Isles, 1967, cat.no.94, p.78). It is worth mentioning that he also described him as amongst "the most distinguished artists in Persia passionately fond of flowers" and that it was "almost impossible to procure a specimen of his pencil. They are bought up at any price by the Persians" (Robinson, op.cit., p.78). If the two Muhammad Hadi's are the same, then he would indeed have been over ninety years old on Rich's sighting, and probably relatively young when he undertook the commission for this album although already with the status to have been invited to take part in such a project (von Habsburg, op.cit., p.27). Diba records him as an illuminator who specialized in floral designs. He is also known to have worked on a number of other works including a qalamadan which was formerly in the Niyavaran Palace Collection and which is dated AH 1148/1735-36 AD and many single leaves of narcissus, carnations and roses (Layla S. Diba, "Persian Painting in the Eighteenth Century", Muqarnas, vol.vi, p.154).
Muhammad Baqir is the artist credited with the borders of the painting, and is also with the minor borders between most of the calligraphies and paintings in the album. He is responsible only for borders surrounding paintings in the album. Like Muhammad Hadi he is known to have been a master of many skills - he worked also in lacquer and enamel (B.W. Robinson, "Qajar Painted Enamels", Paintings from Islamic Lands, Oxford, 1969, pl.122). His recorded works are dated between AH 1172/1758-59 AD and AH 1244/1828-29 AD.
The Calligraphy:
The St. Petersburg Muraqqa' contained calligraphic folios that were the work of only one calligrapher, Mir Imad al-Hassani, and this mashq is therefore easily attributable to him. Mir 'Imad was born around the year AH 961/1553-4 AD in Qazwin, the capital of Safavid Iran. He moved to Tabriz where he was apprenticed to the master Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi, moving back to the capital on completion of his studies in AH 981/1573-4 AD. He became an itinerant craftsman, as was the custom among his profession, accepting commissions as he moved from one town to the next. Later in life he set out for the Hajj and remained in the region for several years, working in Aleppo before returning to Iran in AH 1005/1596-7 AD. His great rival as court calligrapher, 'Ali Reza-i Abassi, gradually replaced him in the Shah's favour and, in the increasingly extreme Shi'ite environment of the court of Shah 'Abbas, he was accused of Sufism and Sunnism. He was murdered in AH 1024/1615-16 AD by an agent of the Shah.
A calligraphic folio from the St. Petersburg Muraqqa' sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2012, lot 320. A painting sold in the same sale, lot 319.
It is believed that the Indian paintings from the album now known as the St. Petersburg Muraqqa' were taken to Iran by Nadir Shah following his sack of Delhi in 1739. Whilst there, the folios were all given new borders and almost all backed by panels of calligraphy by the master calligrapher Mir 'Imad. The album was obtained in 1909 by the Russian Aulic Councillor Ostrogradsky from Jews in Tehran who had in turn purchased it from the Royal Library after which it was presented to the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg (Francesca von Habsburg et al., The St. Petersburg Muraqqa', Lugano, 1996, p.20). At that stage the manuscript contained exactly 100 leaves. In 1912 the Metropolitan Museum purchased one leaf which appears to be the earliest provenance on any of the leaves outside Russia. In 1931 six of the best folios of all were sold to the Freer Gallery.
The Painting:
Of the paintings known from the album, most were produced between the early 16th and the end of the 17th centuries, although there are a few works from half a century either side of this period. Most are Mughal - including a few that were intended for the Jahangirnama and the Padshahnama, although there are two early 17th century Deccani works and twenty Persian paintings, mostly of the late 17th century. Half of the paintings postdate Shah Jahan's rule (1628-58) (Elaine Wright, Muraqqa. Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Virginia, 2008, p.575). Ours is likely to have been one of those.
In its basic conceit, our miniature relates closely to one entitled "A Late Mughal Outing", formerly in the album and now in the collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (Anthony Welch and Stuart Cary Welch, Arts of the Islamic Book. The Collection of Sadruddin Aga Khan, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1982, no.78, pp.231-33). That miniature also depicts a group of ladies bathing on the banks of a river, although unlike ours, there they go unwatched. That miniature is attributed to around 1680, and is inscribed Mahmud (though in a lower left hand corner, where the painting has been extended). It is believed that the folios in the album were organized such that each double page had either two calligraphic panels, or two paintings which were similar in composition or subject matter. Both our painting, and "A Late Mughal Outing" share similar borders by Muhammad Baqir. It is tempting to suggest therefore that they originally they faced each other.
The Borders:
Three artists were known to work on the decoration and composition of the album in the mid-18th century - Muhammad Hadi, Muhammad Baqir and Muhammad Sadiq. Most of the work of decorating the album was done by Muhammad Hadi, the artist who signed the gold illuminated margins of the mashq on our folio, which is dated AH 1171/1757-58 AD. In his discussion on the compilation and decoration of the album, Anatol Ivanov writes that Hadi only decorated the margins around the calligraphic specimens (Francesca von Habsburg, et al., op.cit. Lugano, 1996, p.26).
Although little is known of the life and work of Muhammad Hadi, research done by B.W. Robinson confirms that he was seen in Shiraz on the 10th September 1821 by the English traveller Claudius Rich who described him as a very old man who no longer practiced his art (B.W. Robinson, Persian Miniatures from Collections in the British Isles, 1967, cat.no.94, p.78). It is worth mentioning that he also described him as amongst "the most distinguished artists in Persia passionately fond of flowers" and that it was "almost impossible to procure a specimen of his pencil. They are bought up at any price by the Persians" (Robinson, op.cit., p.78). If the two Muhammad Hadi's are the same, then he would indeed have been over ninety years old on Rich's sighting, and probably relatively young when he undertook the commission for this album although already with the status to have been invited to take part in such a project (von Habsburg, op.cit., p.27). Diba records him as an illuminator who specialized in floral designs. He is also known to have worked on a number of other works including a qalamadan which was formerly in the Niyavaran Palace Collection and which is dated AH 1148/1735-36 AD and many single leaves of narcissus, carnations and roses (Layla S. Diba, "Persian Painting in the Eighteenth Century", Muqarnas, vol.vi, p.154).
Muhammad Baqir is the artist credited with the borders of the painting, and is also with the minor borders between most of the calligraphies and paintings in the album. He is responsible only for borders surrounding paintings in the album. Like Muhammad Hadi he is known to have been a master of many skills - he worked also in lacquer and enamel (B.W. Robinson, "Qajar Painted Enamels", Paintings from Islamic Lands, Oxford, 1969, pl.122). His recorded works are dated between AH 1172/1758-59 AD and AH 1244/1828-29 AD.
The Calligraphy:
The St. Petersburg Muraqqa' contained calligraphic folios that were the work of only one calligrapher, Mir Imad al-Hassani, and this mashq is therefore easily attributable to him. Mir 'Imad was born around the year AH 961/1553-4 AD in Qazwin, the capital of Safavid Iran. He moved to Tabriz where he was apprenticed to the master Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi, moving back to the capital on completion of his studies in AH 981/1573-4 AD. He became an itinerant craftsman, as was the custom among his profession, accepting commissions as he moved from one town to the next. Later in life he set out for the Hajj and remained in the region for several years, working in Aleppo before returning to Iran in AH 1005/1596-7 AD. His great rival as court calligrapher, 'Ali Reza-i Abassi, gradually replaced him in the Shah's favour and, in the increasingly extreme Shi'ite environment of the court of Shah 'Abbas, he was accused of Sufism and Sunnism. He was murdered in AH 1024/1615-16 AD by an agent of the Shah.
A calligraphic folio from the St. Petersburg Muraqqa' sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2012, lot 320. A painting sold in the same sale, lot 319.