POSSIBLY HYDERABAD, DECCAN, INDIA, MID-18TH CENTURY

A painting in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris is probably painted by the same artist. He uses an idiosyncratic style which can be recognized by a particular use of colours, pinks painted in contrast with greens, the kind and almost naive features of the faces and the somehow 'cubist' approach to the depiction of buildings and vegetation (Roselyne Hurel, Miniatures & Peintures Indiennes, Paris, 2011, cat. 250, p. 182). In her description of the painting which probably illustrated the Queen of Sheba travelling to meet King Solomon, Hurel indicates that the artist's style is Deccani, particularly in his treatment of the landscape. However, she suggests that artists working in Faizabad, Oudh, and copying earlier Kashmiri style painting might have produced similar 'pastiche' paintings. The Bibliothèque Nationale painting was annotated on its reverse by Colonel Gentil who donated the painting in 1785, providing a useful terminus ante quem for the work.