PORTRAIT OF PEEAREE JAN (PARI KHAN)
PORTRAIT OF PEEAREE JAN (PARI KHAN)
PORTRAIT OF PEEAREE JAN (PARI KHAN)
PORTRAIT OF PEEAREE JAN (PARI KHAN)
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A PAGE FROM THE FRASER ALBUM
PORTRAIT OF PEEAREE JAN (PARI KHAN)

BY A MASTER OF THE FRASER ALBUM, DELHI, INDIA, 1815

Details
PORTRAIT OF PEEAREE JAN (PARI KHAN)
BY A MASTER OF THE FRASER ALBUM, DELHI, INDIA, 1815
Opaque and translucent pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, set within pencilled rules with Persian inscriptions above, laid down on buff album page, the backing paper inscribed with her name in English, mounted, framed and glazed
Painting 9 x 5 7⁄8 in. (23 x 14.9cm.); folio 16 1⁄8 x 12 1⁄8 in. (41 x 30.8cm.)
Provenance
Commissioned by William Fraser, Delhi, 1816-1820
In the Collection of William Fraser (1784-1835) and James Fraser (1783-1856)
By direct descent in the Fraser family in Scotland to Malcolm R. Fraser, Esq
Sotheby's New York, Fine Oriental Miniatures, Manuscripts and Islamic Works of Art including the Fraser Album, 9 December 1980, lot 165
Literature
M. Archer and T. Falk, India Revealed, The Art and Adventures of James and William Fraser, London, 1989, no.128, p.129
P. Nevile, Nautch Girls of India: dancers, singers, playmates, New York and New Delhi, 1996, no.86, p.121
S. Canby, Princes, Poets and Paladins, London, 1998, no.139, p.181
S. Canby, Princes, Poètes et Paladins, Geneva, 1999, no.139, p.181
P. Nevile, Stories from the Raj, Sahibs, Memsahibs and Others, New Delhi, 2004, p. 88
W. Dalrymple, The Last Mughal, The Fall of Delhi 1857, London, 2006, fig. 23
P. Nevile, The Marvels of Indian Painting: Rise and Demise of Company School, Gurgaon, 2007, pl.88, p.111
B.N. Goswamy, "Masters of the Company Portraits" in M.C. Beach, E. Fischer and B.N Goswamy (eds.), Masters of Indian Painting, vol. II, Artibus Asiae Supplementum 48, II/II, 2011, p. 770, no.9, p.778, fig.6
W. Dalrymple (ed.), Forgotten Masters, Indian Painting for the East India Company, London, 2019, no. 90, p. 156
Y. Sharma, "The Intermedial Gaze and the Nautch Girls of the Fraser Album" in A. Garimella (ed.), The Long Arc of South Asian Art: A Reader in Honour of Vidya Dehejia, London/New Delhi, 2022, p.295, fig.3
Exhibited
Princes, Poets and Paladins, British Museum, London; Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University; Rietberg Museum, Zurich; Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva, 1998-9
Forgotten Masters, Indian Painting for the East India Company, The Wallace Collection, London, 2019-20
Engraved
Inscribed in Persian at the top of the backing paper:
Piyari Jan khanagi (i.e. in indoor costume)
Identified in transcription by E.S. Fraser:
Peearee Jan, a dancing woman of Dehlee in the usual undress
Further details
The painted surface is stable and level. The gold highlights to her jewellery and shoes are bright and clear. Additional details in silver are lightly tarnished, appearing dark in colour. There are very light marks to the margins, which has been inscribed in Persian in both pencil and ink. The card is securely attached to the album page. The lining paper is clean with a brief inked English inscription under the heading No.42. The inventory number M233 has been pencilled to the lower corner.

Brought to you by

Sara Plumbly
Sara Plumbly Director, Head of Department

Lot Essay

In this memorable portrait, the nautch dancer Peearee Jan stands hand on hip and looks out directly and defiantly, as if somehow challenging the viewer. As in the portrait of Kandar Bakhsh (lot 44), the artist's immensely skillful portrayal of Peearee Jan has allowed us to glimpse her character and psychological outlook.

There are only five single-figure portraits of nautch girls published in Archer and Falk's comprehensive study of the Fraser Album. Of those, three are presented in this sale. Peearee Jan, illustrated here, Kandar Bakhsh (lot 44) and Malaguire (lot 42), are all depicted in splendidly rich and colourful clothes. They wear eye-catching and widely flared trousers, diaphanous shawls and slippers with extravagantly upturned toes, as well as elaborate ear coverings, necklaces, bangles and belts. There is a real richness to their outfits. From the inscription on this painting, which identifies the subject as Peearee Jan Khanegi, we understand that this is their 'indoor costume'. As Goswamy writes, this portrait and others from the Fraser album which depict women, “are wholly different from all those delicate princess and idealized nayikas that one generally sees in Indian painting. These are obviously women of pleasure but of undoubted rank, possessed of a distinct and high place in the society of the times” (Goswamy 2011, p.777).

A painting of A Group of Nautch Girls by Ghulam Ali Khan painted in Delhi ca.1800-25 and formerly in the Collection of Edwin Binney 3rd is now in the San Diego Museum of Art (1990.395; published Goswamy 2011, fig.4, p.776). That painting has been interpreted as depicting the course of a courtesan’s life, from the young ingenue to the proprietress of an establishment. To the right of the painting is a figure who bears strong resemblance to Peearee Jan – both in her dress and in the slightly wary expression on her face. If it is indeed the same person, then this provides a fascinating artistic link and insight into the lives of Delhi nautch dancers.

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