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Lot Essay
This allegorical painting alludes to the descent of the Mughals from Timur, the 14th century Central Asian ruler, and reinforces the lineage and legitimacy of the Mughal dynasty. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, seated on the left, is depicted as a middle-aged man with a gray beard. Shah Jahan’s distinctive facial features appear to have been based on several known portraits of him as an older man. For a closely comparable portrait of the Emperor by the artist Hashim, circa 1650, from the Late Shah Jahan Album, now in the Chester Beatty Library (CBL In 62.4), see E. Wright (ed.), Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Alexandria, 2008, p. 412, no. 71.
The figure seated on the right, erroneously identified as Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, is in fact Timur. The face, style of turban and seated posture bear a strong resemblance to the figure of Timur in a well-known painting by the Mughal artist Govardhan, circa 1630, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM. 8-1925; illustrated in S. Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book in India 1560-1650, London, 2002, p. 150, pl. 112). In our painting, Shah Jahan’s chief minister, Sa‘dullah Khan, stands behind him holding a parasol. Perhaps the unidentified figure standing behind Timur in a similar fashion is his chief minister.
In his 1993 catalogue Toby Falk attributed this painting to the Mughal court atelier [in Delhi/Agra] and dated it to circa 1650. Although the figures and composition are clearly closely related to painting at court, our painting displays features that are not normally encountered in Mughal painting from the capital. The coloring, with its dark tonality and the use of pinks, greens and deep turquoise, and the very prominent flowers in the foreground extending to cover the royal subjects (probably Amaranthus gangeticus) are much larger and more prominent than one normally encounters. This led Cary Welch, when discussing the painting in a private note of 1977, to say “No Mughal artist would have treated the ornamental flowers in the foreground with such zestful freedom; nor would he have employed throughout so vivid a palette, which is, however, characteristic of the Deccan, with its violet and purplish coloring”.
It has also been suggested that the artist was Kishangarh-based in the early 18th century. After the reign of Shah Jahan, when his successor Aurangzeb came to the throne in 1658, his strict views on the arts led to a ban on dance, music and painting. This led to a gradual dispersal of imperial artists from Delhi as they sought employment elsewhere. Some carried the Mughal style to Rajasthan. Painting in Kishangarh was heavily influenced by the Mughal style. Bhavani Das was a Mughal artist who was active at the Mughal court between 1700 and 1719 and moved to Kishangarh in 1719. His work in Delhi and Kishangarh played an important role in influencing a generation of Kishangarh artists. Mughal genealogical subjects appear to have a particular forte of Bhavani Das. Of particular note is the painting of the Mughal royal family with Timur seated with his descendants which has been attributed to Bhavani Das (Linda York Leach, Paintings from India, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. VIII, London, 1998, pp.146-49, no. 40).
The later inscriptions below read:
shabih sa’dullah khan - a likeness of Sa’dullah Khan
shabih shah jahan badshah - a likeness of Emperor Shah Jahan
shabih babur bad shah - a likeness of Emperor Babur
isme khaheen ma’loom nist - the name of this gentleman is not known
The figure seated on the right, erroneously identified as Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, is in fact Timur. The face, style of turban and seated posture bear a strong resemblance to the figure of Timur in a well-known painting by the Mughal artist Govardhan, circa 1630, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM. 8-1925; illustrated in S. Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor. The Art of the Book in India 1560-1650, London, 2002, p. 150, pl. 112). In our painting, Shah Jahan’s chief minister, Sa‘dullah Khan, stands behind him holding a parasol. Perhaps the unidentified figure standing behind Timur in a similar fashion is his chief minister.
In his 1993 catalogue Toby Falk attributed this painting to the Mughal court atelier [in Delhi/Agra] and dated it to circa 1650. Although the figures and composition are clearly closely related to painting at court, our painting displays features that are not normally encountered in Mughal painting from the capital. The coloring, with its dark tonality and the use of pinks, greens and deep turquoise, and the very prominent flowers in the foreground extending to cover the royal subjects (probably Amaranthus gangeticus) are much larger and more prominent than one normally encounters. This led Cary Welch, when discussing the painting in a private note of 1977, to say “No Mughal artist would have treated the ornamental flowers in the foreground with such zestful freedom; nor would he have employed throughout so vivid a palette, which is, however, characteristic of the Deccan, with its violet and purplish coloring”.
It has also been suggested that the artist was Kishangarh-based in the early 18th century. After the reign of Shah Jahan, when his successor Aurangzeb came to the throne in 1658, his strict views on the arts led to a ban on dance, music and painting. This led to a gradual dispersal of imperial artists from Delhi as they sought employment elsewhere. Some carried the Mughal style to Rajasthan. Painting in Kishangarh was heavily influenced by the Mughal style. Bhavani Das was a Mughal artist who was active at the Mughal court between 1700 and 1719 and moved to Kishangarh in 1719. His work in Delhi and Kishangarh played an important role in influencing a generation of Kishangarh artists. Mughal genealogical subjects appear to have a particular forte of Bhavani Das. Of particular note is the painting of the Mughal royal family with Timur seated with his descendants which has been attributed to Bhavani Das (Linda York Leach, Paintings from India, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Vol. VIII, London, 1998, pp.146-49, no. 40).
The later inscriptions below read:
shabih sa’dullah khan - a likeness of Sa’dullah Khan
shabih shah jahan badshah - a likeness of Emperor Shah Jahan
shabih babur bad shah - a likeness of Emperor Babur
isme khaheen ma’loom nist - the name of this gentleman is not known