AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAGAMALA SERIES: DIPAK RAGA

ATTRIBUTED TO FAQIRULLAH, PROVINCIAL MUGHAL SCHOOL, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1750-60

Details

AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A RAGAMALA SERIES: DIPAK RAGA
ATTRIBUTED TO FAQIRULLAH, PROVINCIAL MUGHAL SCHOOL, NORTH INDIA, CIRCA 1750-60
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the scene lit by four candles, a crescent moon in the starry sky above, the princess sits amidst gold bolsters and cushions, female companions standing with her, the scene set within a garden, a marble pavilion behind them, the reverse with four lines of black devanagari script, mounted, framed and glazed
Painting 6 7/8 x 4 1/8in.(17.6 x 10.5cm.); page 7 5/8 x 4¾in.(19.4 x 12.3cm.)

Provenance

Acquired from Colnaghi, London, 5 June 1979

Literature

Toby Falk and Simon Digby, Paintings from Mughal India, Colnaghi, exhibition catalogue, London, 1979, cat. 27, pp.58-59.

Exhibited

Paintings from Mughal India, London, 1979, cat. 27

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Lot Essay

Faqirullah is known for his work on another ragamala series (E. Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney, 3rd: The Mughal and Deccani Schools with some related Sultanate material, Portland, 1973, no. 84). His full name was Muhammad Faqirullah Khan, the name he uses on a slightly earlier work on the Johnson album in the British Library (album, 17, no. 3). His style was at that time purely Mughal whereas the present picture relates to the style developped in Awadh. Faqirullah probably moved to that region after the 1750s.

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