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Lot Essay
Inscriptions:
'amal-e Dhanraj, "work of Dhanraj"
This delicate work depicts an elderly ascetic perched on a rocky overhang and attended by two young men. One is playing music whilst the other bows respectfully with hands to head in the anjali gesture of respect. The figures and tree are carefully modelled and coloured with the European cityscape behind acknowledging the influence of European prints which by this time had disseminated through the Mughal court. The whole scene is lightly coloured in the nim qalam style, literally meaning ‘half pen’, which was particularly favoured around the turn of the 17th century. For a fuller discussion of nim qalam refer to lot 64 in this sale.
Portraits of ascetics were a popular subject in Mughal painting in the late 16th and early 17th century. With nudes uncommon in Mughal India, the near naked bodies allowed the artist to showcase their skill at anatomical drawing whilst also assembling groups with meaningful spatial relationships. The restricted use of colour here gives further emphasis to the drawing. A very similar Mughal nim qalam work, but with an expanded view and including more characters, is illustrated in R.K. Tandan, Indian Miniature Painting: 16th through 19th centuries, Bangalore, 1982, fig.9.
The artist Dhanraj, whilst not the most prolific, has works dating from the 1580s until the early Jahangiri period. Usually his name is mentioned in collaborative works, often as the designer of the page. This is the case with three paintings in the British Library Baburnama (Or.3714), including the illustration of Babur approaching the fort at Gwalior. He was also responsible for a preparatory illustration for a copy of the Khamsa of Nizami commissioned by the Emperor Akbar also in the British Library (IM.61-1949). He was responsible for a number of nim qalam works including a painting of elephants in a landscape in the Royal Collection (RCIN 1005042) which, like the present painting, underscores his proficiency of spatial arrangement. Two illustrations attributed to Dhanraj from the ‘second’ Akbarnama of 1596-97 were recently sold by Hôtel Druout Paris, 15 May 2019, lot 30.
'amal-e Dhanraj, "work of Dhanraj"
This delicate work depicts an elderly ascetic perched on a rocky overhang and attended by two young men. One is playing music whilst the other bows respectfully with hands to head in the anjali gesture of respect. The figures and tree are carefully modelled and coloured with the European cityscape behind acknowledging the influence of European prints which by this time had disseminated through the Mughal court. The whole scene is lightly coloured in the nim qalam style, literally meaning ‘half pen’, which was particularly favoured around the turn of the 17th century. For a fuller discussion of nim qalam refer to lot 64 in this sale.
Portraits of ascetics were a popular subject in Mughal painting in the late 16th and early 17th century. With nudes uncommon in Mughal India, the near naked bodies allowed the artist to showcase their skill at anatomical drawing whilst also assembling groups with meaningful spatial relationships. The restricted use of colour here gives further emphasis to the drawing. A very similar Mughal nim qalam work, but with an expanded view and including more characters, is illustrated in R.K. Tandan, Indian Miniature Painting: 16th through 19th centuries, Bangalore, 1982, fig.9.
The artist Dhanraj, whilst not the most prolific, has works dating from the 1580s until the early Jahangiri period. Usually his name is mentioned in collaborative works, often as the designer of the page. This is the case with three paintings in the British Library Baburnama (Or.3714), including the illustration of Babur approaching the fort at Gwalior. He was also responsible for a preparatory illustration for a copy of the Khamsa of Nizami commissioned by the Emperor Akbar also in the British Library (IM.61-1949). He was responsible for a number of nim qalam works including a painting of elephants in a landscape in the Royal Collection (RCIN 1005042) which, like the present painting, underscores his proficiency of spatial arrangement. Two illustrations attributed to Dhanraj from the ‘second’ Akbarnama of 1596-97 were recently sold by Hôtel Druout Paris, 15 May 2019, lot 30.