SIGNED BHORA, MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1595-1600

Bhora was an artist active between around 1577 and 1599. In his description of a painting attributed to Bhora in the Eva and Konrad Seitz Collection, John Seyller writes that his work generally becomes finer by the mid-1580s, and that he is distinctive in the tiny facial features that he gives to his subjects (John Seyller and Konrad Seitz, Mughal and Deccani Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Zurich, 2010, no.3, pp.36-37). He contributed to a number of manuscripts from the mid-1580s to the mid-1590s, often as the main colourist. He coloured two leaves in the Chester Beatty Collection from the Dispersed Babur Nama and was also employed for the British Library and New Delhi Baburnamas as well as working on the Victoria and Albert Akbarnama, Keir Collection Khamsa of Nizami and Jaipur Razmnama. He also produced a complete page for the 1595 British Library Khamsa of Nizami (Linda York Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings from the Chester Beatty Library, vol.II, Dublin, 1995, p.1101).

A number of miniatures from this copy of the Zafarnama are known. Two were offered at Sotheby's, 3 May 2001, lots 71 and 72 and another two 21 October 2001, lots 64 and 65. Three other folios sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2012, lots 3, 4 and 5. Most however, are now in private collections. Two are in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (2005.027) and in the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California (2009.17). Another is in the Eva and Konrad Seitz Collection (published Seyller and Seitz, op.cit., no.6, pp.42-44).