An illustration from Prince Khurram's Album: A kneeling portait of...
gouache heightened with gold on paper, cream border with gold scrolling floral vine, blue-green margins with gold decoration comprising birds amidst foliage, the reverse with a calligraphic panel comprising six lines of Persian verse in black nasta'liq script on an orange gold-sprinkled ground, blue green border with gold floral vine, margins trimmed
painting: 16.9 by 9.5cm.
leaf: 22.6 by 15cm.
Condition Report:
Margins trimmed, remnants of previous mounting along edges, some wormholing mostly to borders, the painting with minor damage to lower left and minor staining, pigment colours are strong with very minor losses and rubbing, reverse with some staining, as viewed.
Catalogue Note:
The following four folios are from an imperial Mughal album assembled by Prince Khurram (1592-1666) around 1610-15 when he was still a young boy. Khurram was the third son of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r.1605-27) and is better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan. He succeeded his father in 1628 and became the fifth Emperor of the Mughal Empire. Prince Khurram had a keen interest in painting, he also spent time mastering the art of calligraphy. The drawings and paintings in the album is likely to have been produced by court artists working in the imperial Mughal workshop during the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir. The reverse of each folio in the album bears an elegant Persian quatrain in nasta'liq script in the hand of Prince Khurram. Some of these calligraphic panels are signed and dated by the prince.
The number of leaves in the original album are unknown but it first appeared on the market as a collection of twenty leaves, sold at Sotheby’s London on 15 June 1959, lot 118. Some of these leaves from the album were subsequently sold again in these rooms as part of the Kevorkian Foundation collection, 1 December 1969, lots 126-132; 7 December 1970, lots 104-8; 3 April 1978, lots 50-52. Hagop Kevorkian, the well-known Armenian-American archaeologist and collector, is known to have owned twenty-five leaves from the album, including these four folios.
A leaf from the album depicting a portly, learned man reading with a cat sleeping beside him, was formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, and sold in these rooms, 6 April 2011, lot 90. The drawing is attributed to the master Mughal artist Basawan. The reverse has three library accession notes in the hand of Prince Khurram copied from inscriptions written by Jahangir on the flyleaves of earlier royal manuscripts, suggesting that the prince modelled his handwriting on that of his father. Another leaf depicting a hobbled stallion with a groom and a saluki hound is illustrated in Binney 1973, no.49, pp.74-75. A leaf from the album with a portrait of a European gentleman is illustrated in Grube 1972, no.239, pp.272-3, colour pl.LIII. A further leaf depicting a portrait of Suraj Singh Rathore, the ruler of Marwar and maternal uncle of Shah Jahan, attributed to the artist Bishandas, is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. no.2013.313). A further folio depicting two musicians playing, the calligraphic panel on the reverse signed by Prince Khurram and dated 1016 AH (1607-08 AD) sold recently in these rooms, 30 March 2022, lot 46.
The present painting is an elegant portrait of Babur, the first Mughal Emperor (r.1526-30) dressed as a Timurid prince kneeling on a carpet with a book held against his chest with his left hand. Beside him on the carpet are an inkwell, a pen-stand, a manuscript and a gold cup. Babur is seated in a garden with a tree bearing delicate pink blossom behind him.
For three additional folios from this album in the present sale, see lots 102-104.
Provenance:
Sotheby's London, 15 June 1959, lot 118 (no.1)
Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York
Sotheby's London, Highly Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures - The Property of The Kevorkian Foundation, 7 December 1970, lot 106
Colnaghi, London, 1979
Acquired from the above, thence by descent
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gouache heightened with gold on paper, cream border with gold scrolling floral vine, blue-green margins with gold decoration comprising birds amidst foliage, the reverse with a calligraphic panel comprising six lines of Persian verse in black nasta'liq script on an orange gold-sprinkled ground, blue green border with gold floral vine, margins trimmed
painting: 16.9 by 9.5cm.
leaf: 22.6 by 15cm.
Condition Report:
Margins trimmed, remnants of previous mounting along edges, some wormholing mostly to borders, the painting with minor damage to lower left and minor staining, pigment colours are strong with very minor losses and rubbing, reverse with some staining, as viewed.
Catalogue Note:
The following four folios are from an imperial Mughal album assembled by Prince Khurram (1592-1666) around 1610-15 when he was still a young boy. Khurram was the third son of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r.1605-27) and is better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan. He succeeded his father in 1628 and became the fifth Emperor of the Mughal Empire. Prince Khurram had a keen interest in painting, he also spent time mastering the art of calligraphy. The drawings and paintings in the album is likely to have been produced by court artists working in the imperial Mughal workshop during the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir. The reverse of each folio in the album bears an elegant Persian quatrain in nasta'liq script in the hand of Prince Khurram. Some of these calligraphic panels are signed and dated by the prince.
The number of leaves in the original album are unknown but it first appeared on the market as a collection of twenty leaves, sold at Sotheby’s London on 15 June 1959, lot 118. Some of these leaves from the album were subsequently sold again in these rooms as part of the Kevorkian Foundation collection, 1 December 1969, lots 126-132; 7 December 1970, lots 104-8; 3 April 1978, lots 50-52. Hagop Kevorkian, the well-known Armenian-American archaeologist and collector, is known to have owned twenty-five leaves from the album, including these four folios.
A leaf from the album depicting a portly, learned man reading with a cat sleeping beside him, was formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, and sold in these rooms, 6 April 2011, lot 90. The drawing is attributed to the master Mughal artist Basawan. The reverse has three library accession notes in the hand of Prince Khurram copied from inscriptions written by Jahangir on the flyleaves of earlier royal manuscripts, suggesting that the prince modelled his handwriting on that of his father. Another leaf depicting a hobbled stallion with a groom and a saluki hound is illustrated in Binney 1973, no.49, pp.74-75. A leaf from the album with a portrait of a European gentleman is illustrated in Grube 1972, no.239, pp.272-3, colour pl.LIII. A further leaf depicting a portrait of Suraj Singh Rathore, the ruler of Marwar and maternal uncle of Shah Jahan, attributed to the artist Bishandas, is in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (inv. no.2013.313). A further folio depicting two musicians playing, the calligraphic panel on the reverse signed by Prince Khurram and dated 1016 AH (1607-08 AD) sold recently in these rooms, 30 March 2022, lot 46.
The present painting is an elegant portrait of Babur, the first Mughal Emperor (r.1526-30) dressed as a Timurid prince kneeling on a carpet with a book held against his chest with his left hand. Beside him on the carpet are an inkwell, a pen-stand, a manuscript and a gold cup. Babur is seated in a garden with a tree bearing delicate pink blossom behind him.
For three additional folios from this album in the present sale, see lots 102-104.
Provenance:
Sotheby's London, 15 June 1959, lot 118 (no.1)
Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York
Sotheby's London, Highly Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures - The Property of The Kevorkian Foundation, 7 December 1970, lot 106
Colnaghi, London, 1979
Acquired from the above, thence by descent
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