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Dhanraj (active late 16th-early 17th century)

Sultan Husayn Mirza سلطان حسین میرزا (Sultan Husayn Mirza rests after a hunt) c. 1605 - c. 1615

Opaque watercolour including gold metallic paints and leaf with decorative incising on paper. | 34.4 x 23.0 cm (page dimensions) | RCIN 1005032.f

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  • f.12

    Illustration from a manuscript of the Khamsah of Navai (see RCIN 1005032).

    This illustration is a Mughal homage to the Timurid ruler Sultan Husayn Mirza, the likely patron of the manuscript, as well as its calligrapher, Sultan Ali Mashhadi, and author, Mir Ai Shir Navai, who also feature in the scene. The prince is fanned as he sits on a wooden throne under a tented canopy with a gold wine cup in one hand. The aged calligrapher, Sultan Ali Mashhadi, stands barefoot before the throne and presents him with an open manuscript. To the right stands Mir Ali Shir, the first in a line of courtiers, wearing a gold robe of honour to mark his status as Sultan Husayn’s vizier. This notion of reflexivity – the patron, calligrapher and author of the manuscript all physically manifested within the manuscript – was frequently explored by Jahangir’s artists.

    Hunters with guns, bows and arrows, horses, hounds and a hawk, are shown recently returned from their sport. Servants bring food on covered trays to a low table at the centre where a meal is being served. A duo of musicians entertains the gathering, one of whom is among the two figures in the painting dressed in European-style clothing. The figure in green wearing a wide-brimmed hat is based on an image of Sir Thomas Roe, the first English royal ambassador to the Mughal court (see RCIN 660859).

    The high horizon line and prominently placed chinar tree area all elements the Mughal artist Dhanraj derived from the Timurid painting tradition, while the modular pyramid composition and the use of gestures and gazes as demarcations of conceptual boundaries in the presence of the ruler are features shared with contemporary early seventeenth century paintings depicting the Mughal court.
    Provenance

    From a manuscript presented by Saadat Ali Khan, Nawab of Awadh, to Lord Teignmouth and delivered to George III in June 1799.

  • Medium and techniques

    Opaque watercolour including gold metallic paints and leaf with decorative incising on paper.

    Measurements

    34.4 x 23.0 cm (page dimensions)

    23.2 x 15.3 cm (panel)


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