MUGHAL INDIA, CIRCA 1600

Princes seeking the counsel of holy men was a popular subject for artists at the Mughal court during the late 16th and 17th centuries and remained a common inclusion in Mughal albums. The contrast between king and faqir symbolised the ‘juxtaposition and distant affinity of temporal and spiritual authority’ (A. Welch and S.C. Welch, The Arts of the Islamic Book, The Collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, New York, 1982, p.160). Here, the spiritual theme of the prince visiting a sage is contrasted with the princely hunting scene on the reverse. The former theme is thought to have first appeared in manuscript painting during Akbar's reign, but it remained a staple of the imperial workshop long after his death. Shah Jahan's son Dara Shikoh commissioned paintings of ascetics and dervishes and is often himself the subject, seated amidst holy men. A 17th century example depicting the young prince visiting the Sufi saints Mian Mir of Lahore and Mullah Shah of Badakshan is in the Victoria & Albert Museum (no. IM.250-1921).

This folio comes from the dispersed ‘De Luynes’ album, which contained a number of paintings from sub-imperial commissions by Akbar's courtiers during the late 16th century. The 1587-98 Ramayana for ‘Abd al-Rahim Khan Khanan, Akbar’s military commander-in-chief, in the Freer Gallery (M. C. Beach, The Imperial Image, Paintings for the Mughal Court, Washington D.C., 1981, pp.128-155; also J. Seyller, Workshop and Patron in Mughal India, Zurich, 1999) and the 1598 Razmnama in the British Library (J.P. Losty, The Art of the Book in India, London, 1982, no.88) are important representations of such commissions.

Other folios from the De Luynes Album have sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2023, lot 61, 23 April 2015, lot 115, 4 October 2012, lots 163-176, and Christie's New York, 19 June 2019, lots 11 and 183.