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Lot Essay
The 18th century margins of this album page are similar to those of a folio from an album, now in the Royal Collection Trust (1005068.p) formerly in the collection of Nawab Asaf al-Dawla of Awadh (r. 1775-1797). The jharoka portrait of Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) holding a sarpech is mirrored by a similar portrait of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar (r. 1713-19). The very finely executed portrait of Farrukhsiyar, who is interestingly shown to be larger than Aurangzeb, with highly curved brow, long eyes, and curling facial hair is very similar to a portrait of the Emperor signed by the artist Bhavani Das. That was in the Francoise and Claude Bourelier Collection which sold at Artcurial, Paris, 4 November 2014, lot 243 (see Oliver Forge & Brendan Lynch catalogue, Indian Painting 1590-1880, 2015, cat.12). Another similar portrait of Farrukhsiyar attributable to Bhavani Das was sold in these Rooms, 10 June 2015, lot 13. Given the brevity of his reign, portraits of the Farrukhsiyar are rarer than those of longer-reigning emperors.
Muzaffar 'Ali who signed the drawing here, was son of Haydar 'Ali and great-nephew to Kamal al-Din Bihzad. He held special favour in the atelier of Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524-1576), and some sources even suggest he was favoured by the great master Bihzad (Dickson and Welch, The Houghton Shahnama, Harvard, 1981, p.154). Works inscribed to Muzaffar 'Ali are very rare and this may be the first signed work by the artist to appear at auction. Two reliably inscribed paintings are in the British Library. The first is an illustration of Bahram Gur and Fitna from the Khamsa of Shah Tahmasp (Or.2265, f.221a) and the other shows Firdawsi unrecognised amongst the poets of Ghazni from a copy of the Garshaspnama (Or.12985, f.5a). Nine paintings in the Shahnama of Shah Tahamsp are attributed to the artist and he also worked on the wall paintings at Tahmasp's palace in Qazvin when the capital was moved there from Tabriz. He is thought to have worked on the luxurious Haft Awrang of Prince Ibrahim Mirza between 1555-56. Another painting attributed to him is in the British Museum (1996,0326,0.1).
Muzaffar 'Ali who signed the drawing here, was son of Haydar 'Ali and great-nephew to Kamal al-Din Bihzad. He held special favour in the atelier of Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524-1576), and some sources even suggest he was favoured by the great master Bihzad (Dickson and Welch, The Houghton Shahnama, Harvard, 1981, p.154). Works inscribed to Muzaffar 'Ali are very rare and this may be the first signed work by the artist to appear at auction. Two reliably inscribed paintings are in the British Library. The first is an illustration of Bahram Gur and Fitna from the Khamsa of Shah Tahmasp (Or.2265, f.221a) and the other shows Firdawsi unrecognised amongst the poets of Ghazni from a copy of the Garshaspnama (Or.12985, f.5a). Nine paintings in the Shahnama of Shah Tahamsp are attributed to the artist and he also worked on the wall paintings at Tahmasp's palace in Qazvin when the capital was moved there from Tabriz. He is thought to have worked on the luxurious Haft Awrang of Prince Ibrahim Mirza between 1555-56. Another painting attributed to him is in the British Museum (1996,0326,0.1).