MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1640-1660

Details

A PRINCE, POSSIBLY PARVIZ, AND HIS CONSORT
Mughal India, circa 1640-1660
Gouache heightened with gold on paper, a young prince seated beneath a canopy with his consort, he holds her hand while she offer him a glass of wine, with attendants and musicians, mounted on card with gold floral margins
Folio 17 x 11¾in. (43.2 x 29.8cm.); miniature 7½ x 4 5/8in. (19 x 11.7cm.)

Provenance

Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872)
Bibliotheca Phillippica, property of the Trustees of the Robinson Trust, sold Sotheby's, London, 27th November 1974, lot 783 to E. Bahari.
Anon sale Sotheby's, New York, 22 September 2000, lot 167

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium

Lot Essay

It has been suggested that the subject of this painting is Prince Parviz, the second son of Jahangir. A companion painting by Govardhan is in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (Leach, Linda York: Mughal and other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, London, 1995, Vol.I, pl.58, p.379). Both have the prince surrounded by four women, on an identical carpet and cushion with very similar trellising around the platform. In her discussion of the Dublin miniature Leach suggests that the present work is a 17th century copy of a painting by Govardhan which would have been painted en suite with the Chester Beatty miniature.

The same prince is also depicted by Bishan Das, in a painting now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

More from Islamic Art and Manuscripts

View All