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Lot Essay
This elegant composition depicts a group of holy men establishing a temporary encampment beyond the walls of a fortified city. Executed in the nim-qalam technique, an understated palette of ink and light washes inspired by European grisaille, the drawing combines close observation of the natural world with an atmosphere of quiet contemplation. The restrained tonality lends the scene an ethereal quality, allowing gesture, posture, and setting to convey meaning with remarkable economy.
Despite the careful attention paid to anatomy and expressive movement, the ascetics are rendered with notable restraint. They are shown preparing ritual bhang in shallow vessels, dressed simply in unadorned dhotis and notably lacking the bone earrings and elaborate accoutrements associated with the Nath yogis so famously documented at the court of Akbar. Instead, their identity is conveyed through more subtle markers: circular tattoos encircling their arms, short-cropped hair or shaved heads, and a collective withdrawal from the trappings of worldly display. The scene thus suggests a generalized vision of ascetic life rather than a specific sectarian portrait.
The refined handling of line and wash is characteristic of La‘l, one of the most accomplished and prolific artists active in the imperial atelier of Emperor Akbar. La‘l’s work appears in nearly all the major manuscripts of the period, including the ‘Jaipur’ Razmnama (c. 1582–86), the ‘Bankipore’ Timurnama (c. 1584), the Khamsa of Nizami (c. 1585), the Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (1596), and the Akbarnama of 1604. Alongside Basawan, La‘l played a crucial role in establishing the compositional standards of Mughal manuscript illustration, particularly in his capacity as a designer of complex narrative scenes.
This work though appears to come from an album with paintings ascribed to Mughal artists which include the artists La'l, Mukund, Dasvanth, Kesu, Dharaj, Bhagavati, and Bandi, all which are now in the Royal Collection Trust. From the album, a closely related work signed by La‘l, dated circa 1600 (RCIN 1005043), depicts Ladies in European Classical Dress and demonstrates the same sensitive articulation of landscape, with a dominant tree anchoring the composition and brown wash delicately modelling the background hills. In that work, La‘l introduces a cat in the lower left corner; here, a dog occupies a similar position, a compositional motif that further supports the attribution. Two other works from the album bearing La'l's signature include a Mughal prince and his attendants seated within a garden and a Prince reciting poetry in a garden (RCIN 1005039 and 1005047).
Comparable studies of yogis and ascetics inhabiting remote landscapes may also be found in the India Office Library (see Falk and Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, nos. 25–27, 45–46). An even closer example by the artist Dasvanth, likely from the same album, depicts the ascetics in the nim-qalam techniques, with the same measured rendering of the figures, and even includes an eager dog in the lower left corner (Royal Collection Trust RCIN 1005062).
Further contextual support may be drawn from a large album comprising twenty-nine illuminated leaves, decorated with related animal and floral border designs and small-format drawings by artists of the same period, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 27 October 2020, lot 425, and at Christie’s, London, 17 April 2007, lots 211, 213, and 215. Together, these comparisons situate the present work within a refined courtly tradition that balanced observation, experimentation, and lyrical restraint at the height of Mughal artistic production.
Despite the careful attention paid to anatomy and expressive movement, the ascetics are rendered with notable restraint. They are shown preparing ritual bhang in shallow vessels, dressed simply in unadorned dhotis and notably lacking the bone earrings and elaborate accoutrements associated with the Nath yogis so famously documented at the court of Akbar. Instead, their identity is conveyed through more subtle markers: circular tattoos encircling their arms, short-cropped hair or shaved heads, and a collective withdrawal from the trappings of worldly display. The scene thus suggests a generalized vision of ascetic life rather than a specific sectarian portrait.
The refined handling of line and wash is characteristic of La‘l, one of the most accomplished and prolific artists active in the imperial atelier of Emperor Akbar. La‘l’s work appears in nearly all the major manuscripts of the period, including the ‘Jaipur’ Razmnama (c. 1582–86), the ‘Bankipore’ Timurnama (c. 1584), the Khamsa of Nizami (c. 1585), the Jami‘ al-Tawarikh (1596), and the Akbarnama of 1604. Alongside Basawan, La‘l played a crucial role in establishing the compositional standards of Mughal manuscript illustration, particularly in his capacity as a designer of complex narrative scenes.
This work though appears to come from an album with paintings ascribed to Mughal artists which include the artists La'l, Mukund, Dasvanth, Kesu, Dharaj, Bhagavati, and Bandi, all which are now in the Royal Collection Trust. From the album, a closely related work signed by La‘l, dated circa 1600 (RCIN 1005043), depicts Ladies in European Classical Dress and demonstrates the same sensitive articulation of landscape, with a dominant tree anchoring the composition and brown wash delicately modelling the background hills. In that work, La‘l introduces a cat in the lower left corner; here, a dog occupies a similar position, a compositional motif that further supports the attribution. Two other works from the album bearing La'l's signature include a Mughal prince and his attendants seated within a garden and a Prince reciting poetry in a garden (RCIN 1005039 and 1005047).
Comparable studies of yogis and ascetics inhabiting remote landscapes may also be found in the India Office Library (see Falk and Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, nos. 25–27, 45–46). An even closer example by the artist Dasvanth, likely from the same album, depicts the ascetics in the nim-qalam techniques, with the same measured rendering of the figures, and even includes an eager dog in the lower left corner (Royal Collection Trust RCIN 1005062).
Further contextual support may be drawn from a large album comprising twenty-nine illuminated leaves, decorated with related animal and floral border designs and small-format drawings by artists of the same period, sold at Sotheby’s, London, 27 October 2020, lot 425, and at Christie’s, London, 17 April 2007, lots 211, 213, and 215. Together, these comparisons situate the present work within a refined courtly tradition that balanced observation, experimentation, and lyrical restraint at the height of Mughal artistic production.