MUGHAL INDIA, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

This figure of a young prince draws comparison with several portraits of princely youths standing in landscapes from the Dara Shikoh Album, which was assembled circa 1633-42, and is now in the collection of the British Library in London (Add. Or. 3129). The portraits in the Album were attributed to Mughal artists simply referred to as Artist ‘B’ ‘C’ and ‘D’ and they all depict youths with the same facial type. Falk and Archer suggest that this is perhaps the artists’ ideal representation of youthful or princely beauty. One of the artists may have been inspired by a portrait of Dara Shikoh himself (ff.3v, 6, 17v, 19v, 27v, 35v, 37v, 38; T. Falk and M. Archer, Indian Miniatures in the India Office Library, London, 1981, p.73, illustrated on pp. 380, 383, 386, 389, 390).