Seated prince with attendant

Detached album folio; text: Persian and Arabic in black nasta’liq script; recto: Seated prince with attendant, inscription on the margin reads: Jahangir Padishah; verso: calligraphic panel, couplets of poem on marbled paper.
Border: The recto is set in green rulings with an inner frame of gold floral scroll and an outer frame of dark blue, geometrical interlace; the verso is set in gold rulings surrounded by a tendril scroll on a dark blue ground, mounted on a dark red, gold-sprinkled paperboard.

View right to left

Historical period(s)
ca. 1900
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 29.5 x 20 cm (11 5/8 x 7 7/8 in)
Geography
Northern India
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.419
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Detached album folio with painting

Keywords
attendant, fly whisk, Henri Vever collection, India, prince
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Detached album folio; text: Persian and Arabic in black nasta'liq script; recto: Seated prince with attendant, inscription on the margin reads: Jahangir Padishah; verso: calligraphic panel, couplets of poem on marbled paper.
Border: The recto is set in green rulings with an inner frame of gold floral scroll and an outer frame of dark blue, geometrical interlace; the verso is set in gold rulings surrounded by a tendril scroll on a dark blue ground, mounted on a dark red, gold-sprinkled paperboard.

Inscription(s)

Recto: Jahangir Padishah; verso: text: unidentified arabic poetry (from same text as poetry on S1986.69): Ilâhî anilnî minka rûhan wa-rahmatâ/ fa-lastu siwâ abwâba fadlika aqra`u/ Ilâhî dhunûbî baddat al-tawda wa-`talat/ wa-safuka `an dhanbî ajallu wa-arfa`u/ Ilâhî yunahhî dhkru tawlika law`atî/ wa-dhikri 'l-khatâyâ 'l-`aynu minnî yudamma`u [O God, make me to acquire from thee spirit and mercy,/ for I knock only at the gates of thy grace./ O God, my sins have weighted down the tallest mountains,/ but thy forgiveness of my sin is loftier than that./ O God, the remembrance of thy might drives away my anguish,/ and by the remembrance of [my] sins my eye is mase to tear.]; in Persian, upside down on right side: Pârsârâ bas în qadar zindân/ ki buvad dar tavîla-i rindân/ gar malûlî... [For a pious person it is enough of a prison/ to be among a stableful of roués./ If you are out of sorts...[breaks off]] [This Persian text sounds as though it has been taken from Khwaja Abdullah Ansari's Munâjât.]

Published References
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 398, p. 332.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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