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Lot Essay
Bihzan, the Iranian warrior, has wandered into the enemy territory of Turan to enjoy the Spring Festival. There he sees and instantly falls in love with Manizheh, daughter of the Turanian ruler Afrasiyab. Spending three blissful days together in Manizheh’s tent, news soon reaches Afrasiyab who is outraged. In anger he casts Bihzan into a pit to be sustained by food which Manizheh has had to beg for. Rustam eventually travels to Turan to rescue Bihzan with only the great hero possessing the strength to remove the capstone.
This colourful depiction of this tale is most likely from the same manuscript from which two other illustrations are known in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, San Diego Museum of Art (1990.322) and Los Angeles Museum of Art (M.71.49.3). The illustrations have been attributed as Sub-imperial Mughal and likely commissioned by a Muslim Mughal courtier (E. Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, exhibition catalogue, Portland Art Museum, 1974, p.62). The quality of painting is superior to popular Mughal works although the colours – especially the strong use of yellow – are of a different tonality to those found in imperial painting (P. Pal, Indian Painting, volume 1, Los Angeles, 1993, p.292).
This colourful depiction of this tale is most likely from the same manuscript from which two other illustrations are known in the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, San Diego Museum of Art (1990.322) and Los Angeles Museum of Art (M.71.49.3). The illustrations have been attributed as Sub-imperial Mughal and likely commissioned by a Muslim Mughal courtier (E. Binney, Indian Miniature Painting from the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd, exhibition catalogue, Portland Art Museum, 1974, p.62). The quality of painting is superior to popular Mughal works although the colours – especially the strong use of yellow – are of a different tonality to those found in imperial painting (P. Pal, Indian Painting, volume 1, Los Angeles, 1993, p.292).