.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jahangir's memoirs reveal that he was exceedingly fond of hawks and falcons. Above all, he valued them for their hunting ability: 'what a wonderful bird the hawk is,' he wrote, 'to be able to catch such massive birds [cranes and storks] and bring it down with its talons' (Wheeler Thackston, The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Oxford, 1999, p.289.) Jahangir also took pleasure in the beauty of these birds of prey. In October 1619, he was sent a falcon by Shah Abbas, which unfortunately was attacked by a cat along the journey. Though it was alive when it arrived with Jahangir, it died shortly after. 'What can I write of the beauty of this bird's colour? It had black markings, and every feather on its wings, back, and sides was extremely beautiful.' To preserve its image, he ordered the artist Mansur to make a painting of it (Thackston, op.cit., p.314). Single-figure portraits of him holding a falcon include examples in the Brooklyn Museum, New York (87.234.7), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California (M.83.1.4), and two in the British Museum, London (1955,1008,0.11 and 1920,0917,0.110). He is also shown holding a falcon in a group scene in the National Library of Russia, Moscow (Dorn 489) and in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2013.317).
The facing page from this album was sold in the Sotheby's 1973 sale, lot 23. That painting on the facing page depicts a courtier looking to the right, his hands held out in deference, as though attending on the ruler. That painting is also ascribed to Bishan Das. Unusually, the 1973 catalogue shows not only the painting but also the margins. The margins of the facing folio are also decorated with deer and nilgai, carefully posed on our folio to be the exact mirror-image of those on ex-lot 23. The choice of nilgai may be deliberate, given the association of hawks with hunting, and may represent the birds quarry. The calligraphic borders around our painting also match those on the facing page. According to the 1973 cataloguing, the borders on the facing page are ascribed to the artist Inayat, who was also responsible for the impressive painting of a mountain goat from the Wantage Album in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (R.P.1920-8342). If Inayat painted the margins on the facing page, it is highly likely that he painted these margins too.
A single-sided album folio with Shah Jahan period borders depicting a courtier feeding a hawk was sold as part of the Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence sale, Christie's New York, 19 June 2019, lot 256.
The facing page from this album was sold in the Sotheby's 1973 sale, lot 23. That painting on the facing page depicts a courtier looking to the right, his hands held out in deference, as though attending on the ruler. That painting is also ascribed to Bishan Das. Unusually, the 1973 catalogue shows not only the painting but also the margins. The margins of the facing folio are also decorated with deer and nilgai, carefully posed on our folio to be the exact mirror-image of those on ex-lot 23. The choice of nilgai may be deliberate, given the association of hawks with hunting, and may represent the birds quarry. The calligraphic borders around our painting also match those on the facing page. According to the 1973 cataloguing, the borders on the facing page are ascribed to the artist Inayat, who was also responsible for the impressive painting of a mountain goat from the Wantage Album in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (R.P.1920-8342). If Inayat painted the margins on the facing page, it is highly likely that he painted these margins too.
A single-sided album folio with Shah Jahan period borders depicting a courtier feeding a hawk was sold as part of the Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence sale, Christie's New York, 19 June 2019, lot 256.