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Lot Essay
This fine painting bears two later attributions in Farsi. On the reverse is an attribution to the painter Muhammadi who worked in Herat in the late 16th century and below our portrait on the front is an attribution to the celebrated painter ‘Ali Reza, active in Bijapur at the court of the Adilshahis circa 1600-50. Although these attributions appear to be erroneous, the portrait is particularly fine and is the work of an accomplished painter. It somewhat recalls the paintings of Muhammad ‘Ali, an artist born in Iran who worked at the Mughal Court for Akbar, before reaching Bijapur circa 1590. He later returns to work for Jahangir’s atelier and is active until circa 1620. The Mughal and Deccani courts attracted Iranian-born artists through the 16th and 17th century, the influence of which gave birth to Mughal and Deccani painting. In his essay on the Muhammad ‘Ali, John Seyller suggests that his work ‘is a distinctive and elegant blend of Persian subject matter, Deccani form and color, and Mughal-style faces’ (M.C. Beach, E. Fischer, and B.N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting, Zurich, 2011, pp.279-290). Although there are differences between the works of Muhammad ‘Ali and our portrait, such as details in the way of depicting the youth’s face, those are qualities we find in this painting.
A number of paintings and drawings depicting a similar subject are known. See a scholar in a garden, attributed by Jahangir to Muhammad ‘Ali in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and dated circa 1610-15 (Beach, Fischer, Goswamy, 2011, fig.3, p.282), a portrait of Mirza Muhammad Hakim with a Notebook of Verses, attributed to Aqa Riza, dated late 16th/early 17th century and another by him of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, ruler of Kabul, circa 1590 (Navina Najat Haidar and Marika Sardar, Sultans of the South, Arts of India’s Deccan Courts, 1323-1687, New Haven, 2011, fig.11, p24 and fig.10, p.23).), a tinted drawing by Abu al-Hasan in the Freer Gallery of Art (F.1907.161) dated circa 1600, an a portrait of a page boy by Farrukh Beg, circa 1610-15, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (Ms.7A, fol.18). Another later version, purportedly from the Rothschild collection is published in Robinson, 1976, cat. 91.
A number of paintings and drawings depicting a similar subject are known. See a scholar in a garden, attributed by Jahangir to Muhammad ‘Ali in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and dated circa 1610-15 (Beach, Fischer, Goswamy, 2011, fig.3, p.282), a portrait of Mirza Muhammad Hakim with a Notebook of Verses, attributed to Aqa Riza, dated late 16th/early 17th century and another by him of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, ruler of Kabul, circa 1590 (Navina Najat Haidar and Marika Sardar, Sultans of the South, Arts of India’s Deccan Courts, 1323-1687, New Haven, 2011, fig.11, p24 and fig.10, p.23).), a tinted drawing by Abu al-Hasan in the Freer Gallery of Art (F.1907.161) dated circa 1600, an a portrait of a page boy by Farrukh Beg, circa 1610-15, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (Ms.7A, fol.18). Another later version, purportedly from the Rothschild collection is published in Robinson, 1976, cat. 91.