SIGNED SHAYKH ZAYN AL-DIN (FL. 1777-1782), CALCUTTA, INDIA, DATED 1778

Of the three artists involved in the compilation of Lady Impey's album, Zayn al-Din was the only one involved from its inception. He was extraordinarily prolific, producing around 40 works in 1777 alone. Like the present lot, the majority of these early paintings were of the ‘bird and branch’ genre. Other examples in the same vein include the painting of a Sulphur-crested cockatoo on a custard apple branch in the Ashmolean Museum (LI901.6), and the Rufous Treepie and Brahminy Starling in the Minneapolis Institute of Art (2018.53.10 and 2018.53.3). A striking feature of many of these paintings is that the branch is presented with a cross-section of the stem, as though neatly cut from a plant and hanging in space. The tension between verisimilitude and fantasy, perfect stillness and lively animation, reflects the manner in which Zayn al-Din looked to both European and Mughal painting for inspiration. For a discussion of the patronage of the Impey Album, see the previous lot in this sale.

The naturalist John Latham refers to Lady Impey's album throughout the 1787 supplement to his General Synopsis of Birds. When describing Barbets, he notes that 'among the drawings of Lady Impey is a bird, which I suspect to be the female of this species'. He appreciatively records the forensic detail with which Zayn al-Din has captured the bird, allowing Latham to make an accurate taxonomical description despite having never seen a specimen: thus he is able to describe details such as the bill with 'six or eight bristles at the base' as well as the overall colouring. He also remarks on the caption at the bottom, noting that in India the bird 'goes by the name of Honest Face'.