A Company School painting of a monkey, India, mid-19th century,...

A Company School painting of a monkey, India, mid-19th century, after a Mughal painting of the same subject attributed to the Stipple Master (active circa 1692 -1715), opaque pigments on paper, backed with additional later paper, folio 26.2 x 22cm.

The original painting dated to 1705-10AD is held by the Art Institute of Chicago (2011.248). The inscription on the reverse written in Devanagari states that the monkey is named Husaini and comes from Nawab Davad (or Daud) Khan. This name most likely refers to Daud Khan Panni, a powerful nobleman and a faujdar (a military commander and territorial administrator) who served the Mughal emperors from Aurangzeb (r. 16581707) through Farrukhsiyar (r. 171319), in various parts of India.

Later artists such as the one who painted this version in the 19th century would no double have been aware of such a large and unusual portrait. Given the popularity of paintings of flora and fauna in the late 18th and early 19th century it is not surprising that the artist wished to pay tribute to the original. Gone are details such as the grass and rope from the monkey's neck, replaced with a simplicity characteristic of the period.