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Lot Essay
In the early 17th century the Dutch Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) began trading with Golconda and established a factory there in 1634. In the following decades increasing numbers of Dutch, and later English, traders and officials travelled to the Deccan and the demand for Indian paintings and works of art to take back to Europe increased. Albums of portraits of important historical figures became a popular product. These albums portrayed Mughal, Golconca, Bijapuri and Maratha grandees as well as figures from Safavid Iran. The present lot was almost certainly from one of these albums created for a European patron. Although it is not entirely clear who the identified portrait of Hakim Kariman is, the turban would suggest he was Safavid.
The production of these portrait albums followed a pattern, as all the known albums today are of a very similar size with near identical portraits of the same cast of characters (two complete albums are in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits. Smith-Lesouëf 232 and Smith-Lesouëf 233. Another is in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett, Ca.112). Whilst the assembly and consumption of albums of royal likenesses had been the preserve of the court up until this point in India, the production of albums for European clients in late 17th century Deccan may be considered a commodification of the genre (Becherini 2018).
Another folio of this type of very similar size with similar margins is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (IS.48-1969). Like our folio, one side depicts a figure identified in nasta'liq above (Bhau Singh, Mughal commander in the Deccan and Raja of Amber, r.1614-1621), and the other a lady against a plain green ground. It is very probably that both our folios and the V&A example are from the same original album. A Deccani album of forty portraits of this type formerly in the collection of the Duc de Luynes was sold by Gros & Delettrez, Paris, 19 December 2024, lot 7.
The production of these portrait albums followed a pattern, as all the known albums today are of a very similar size with near identical portraits of the same cast of characters (two complete albums are in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits. Smith-Lesouëf 232 and Smith-Lesouëf 233. Another is in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett, Ca.112). Whilst the assembly and consumption of albums of royal likenesses had been the preserve of the court up until this point in India, the production of albums for European clients in late 17th century Deccan may be considered a commodification of the genre (Becherini 2018).
Another folio of this type of very similar size with similar margins is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (IS.48-1969). Like our folio, one side depicts a figure identified in nasta'liq above (Bhau Singh, Mughal commander in the Deccan and Raja of Amber, r.1614-1621), and the other a lady against a plain green ground. It is very probably that both our folios and the V&A example are from the same original album. A Deccani album of forty portraits of this type formerly in the collection of the Duc de Luynes was sold by Gros & Delettrez, Paris, 19 December 2024, lot 7.