Equestrian portrait of Muhammad Shah from the Impey Album

Detached folio from a dispersed manuscript; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; recto: Equestrian portrait of Muhammad Shah from the Impey Album; verso: calligraphic panel, central panel contains a quatrain surrounded by marginal calligraphic panels; one of a group of three folios; seal with date; signed by master Daswanth.
Border: The recto is set in gold and black rulings in a pink frame, mounted on a cream-colored paperboard. The verso is set in gold and black rulings in a green inner frame surrounded by two calligraphic panels with illuminated corner pieces and side rectangles and an outer frame of turquoise floral scroll with a pink border, mounted on a cream-colored paperboard.

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Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Daswanth
Historical period(s)
Mughal dynasty, Reign of Muhammad Shah, ca. 1730
Movement
Mughal Court
School
Mughal School
Medium
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 46.9 x 32.6 cm (18 7/16 x 12 13/16 in)
Geography
India, Avadh (Oudh), Uttar Pradesh state, Lucknow
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.434
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Detached manuscript folio

Keywords
falconry, halo, Henri Vever collection, India, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), portrait, shah
Provenance

From at least 1932
Albert Besnard, from at least 1932 [1]

To 1942
Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, to 1942 [2]

From 1942 to 1986
Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France [3]

From 1986
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France [4]

Notes:

[1] Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 411.

[2] See Glenn D. Lowry et al., An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 297, no. 346.

[3] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

[4] See note 3.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Albert Besnard
Henri Vever 1854-1942
Francois Mautin 1907-2003

Description

Detached folio from a dispersed manuscript; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: Equestrian portrait of Muhammad Shah from the Impey Album; verso: calligraphic panel, central panel contains a quatrain surrounded by marginal calligraphic panels; one of a group of three folios; seal with date; signed by master Daswanth.
Border: The recto is set in gold and black rulings in a pink frame, mounted on a cream-colored paperboard. The verso is set in gold and black rulings in a green inner frame surrounded by two calligraphic panels with illuminated corner pieces and side rectangles and an outer frame of turquoise floral scroll with a pink border, mounted on a cream-colored paperboard.

Inscription(s)

Verso, margin, Amal-i ustad Daswanth.
"The work of master Daswanth."

Marking(s)

Stamps: blue-edge Oct, No431 x'ed; Petit.

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. 346, pp. 296-297.
Collection Area(s)
South Asian and Himalayan Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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